What is it to be tomato? This is the question I asked myself as I stood in my kitchen, scanning my shelf of herbs and spices. What compliments this red fruit so perfectly that, when melded together, would give me a hearty and delicious lunch for the coming week? This, I assure you, is of high importance.
This is another dish I never had growing up (I use to hate tomatoes) so, as per the course when I have no idea what I’m doing, I browse a couple recipes and wing it. There are far, far too many things in the culinary world that I have never sampled. You ever think about this? How many things you haven’t tried? You could try a new recipe, a new ingredient, every week and you’d never run out of new options. Crazy!
If I had over to do it again, I’d add a red bell pepper and use half crushed tomatoes, half diced. The immersion blender does the trick but I would have liked something a little smooth, a little chunky. Still tasty. Consider playing with spices for the tortillas if feeling adventurous. They go well separately or torn into pieces in the soup.
1 onion; chopped
4 cloves garlic; minced
1 jalapeño pepper; chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon adobo seasoning
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (less for spice wusses like me, more for others)
1 – 1 1/2 cup stock
2 cans diced tomatoes (29oz)
salt and pepper to taste (start with 1/4 teaspoon each)
Tortillas (as many as you’d like)
Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the tortillas into eights, oil lightly and place on a baking sheet. Lightly salt and roast until slightly browned. Be sure to watch them as the thickness of tortillas varies. It should be somewhere between 5 to 10 minutes.
Sweat the onion, garlic and jalapeño under medium-low to medium heat with a pinch of salt until the onion becomes translucent. Add the herbs and spices and cook cook for another minute. Add the stock and tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender for the desired consistency. Serve with the tortillas and enjoy.
