- 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 4 large plum tomatoes
- 1small white onion, or a 1-inch thick slice of a large white onion, peeled
- 1 medium dried New Mexico chile (gualillo), stemmed, seeded and torn into large pieces
- 2 corn tortillas, torn into 1-inch pieces
- 6 cups of chicken broth
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 6 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch wide strips
- Sour cream
- 2 avocados, peeled and diced
- queso fresco or mild feta, cubed or crumbled
- fresh cilantro
- lime wedges
For the soup: Heat a heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook the garlic, tomatoes, onion and New Mexico chile in the pan. Using tongs, turn the vegetables occasionally during cooking to ensure charring on all sides.
Remove the vegetables once slightly blackened on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove the peel from the garlic. Add the charred vegetables to the blender with the tortilla pieces and 2 cups of chicken broth. Blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into a large saucepan and add the remaining 4 cups of chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
For the tortilla strips: Cut the strips 1/2 wide and toss in olive oil. I have used plain and chipotle flavoured olive oil and both are good but I prefer the spiciness of the chipotle oil. Bake in oven at 350 until crispy. Watch that they don't burn. Set aside.
To serve: Ladle the soup into 6 individual bowls. Serve with sour cream, avocados, cheese, tortilla strips, cilantro and lime wedges on the side.
