Ingredients
Bean soup
- 600 g cooked pinto beans about 3 1/2 cups, drained, unsalted; not dry weight
- 400 g ripe red tomatoes about 14 oz
- 100 g white onion about 1/2 medium onion, in wedges
- 10 g garlic about 3 peeled cloves
- 12 g dried ancho chile weighed without stems and seeds, for blending
- 1000 ml water about 4 1/4 cups, plus more if needed
- 10 g canola oil about 2 tsp, for soup
- 5 g fine salt about 3/4 tsp, divided
- 3 g fresh epazote 1 small washed sprig
Toppings
- 120 g corn tortillas about 5 small tortillas, without added salt, cut into thin strips
- 8 g dried ancho chile stemmed, seeded and cut into thin strips
- 20 g canola oil about 1 1/2 tbsp total for all tortilla and chile strips
- 90 g queso fresco about 3 oz, crumbled; pasteurized
- 90 g plain sour cream about 6 tbsp; pasteurized
Equipment
- 1 Heavy skillet or griddle
- 1 Large saucepan
- 1 Blender
- 1 Kitchen scale
- 1 Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
Blend and simmer the soup
- Roast tomatoes and onion on a griddle or heavy skillet for 12–15 minutes, turning until softened and browned in spots. Add garlic in the last few minutes and retain the tomato juices.
- Briefly toast the 12 g ancho for the base without letting it smoke. Soak in hot water 15 minutes and drain. Blend with beans, roasted vegetables and juices, and 500 ml water until smooth. Cool ingredients first if your blender is not designed for hot liquids.
- Heat 10 g oil in the saucepan. Add the purée and cook 5 minutes, stirring. Add the remaining 500 ml water, epazote and 3 g salt. Simmer gently 12–15 minutes, stirring along the bottom. Add hot water if it becomes too thick to pour.
Crisp the toppings and serve
- While the soup simmers, heat part of the 20 g topping oil in a skillet. Crisp the tortilla strips in small batches, turning and dividing the oil among batches; reserve a little for the chile. Transfer to paper towels or a rack and cool uncovered.
- Fry the 8 g ancho strips in the reserved oil for only a few seconds, just until fragrant. Remove before they darken too much. Do not use blackened or scorched strips.
- Remove a tough epazote stem. Taste the soup and add up to the remaining 2 g salt, considering the saltiness of the cheese. Adjust with water until it pours easily. Divide among six bowls.
- Top each bowl with 15 g queso fresco and 15 g sour cream. Distribute the tortilla and chile strips just before eating. Store any remaining soup and toppings separately.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving with toppings (1/6 batch)Calories: 336.8kcalCarbohydrates: 43.1gProtein: 14.5gFat: 13.1gCholesterol: 19.2mgSodium: 449.4mgPotassium: 777.5mgFiber: 11.9gVitamin A: 1425.3IUVitamin C: 11.9mgCalcium: 198.2mgIron: 3mg
Notes
Timing starts with fully cooked beans. Drain and rinse canned beans before weighing; salted products change sodium. Contains milk. US amounts are approximate; gram weights determine the formula. Refrigerate soup in shallow containers within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F, at 40°F or below for 3–4 days. Reheat to 165°F and add toppings afterward.
Nutrition estimates one-sixth of the full recipe with cheese, cream, tortillas and all 30 g oil assumed consumed. USDA SR Legacy records include unsalted cooked pinto beans (FDC 175200), no-added-salt corn tortillas (173241), queso fresco (172223), sour cream (171257), ancho (169396) and epazote (169398). Sugar and fat fractions are incomplete because some ingredient records lack data; absence is not zero. Vitamins are not adjusted for cooking losses. Minerals naturally present in added water are not modeled.
