Pumpkin Tortilla Soup Perfection Recipes

PUMPKIN TORTILLA SOUP

Steps:

• Place diced tomatoes with chiles, pumpkin, fire-roasted tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and garlic into the bowl of a food processor and puree until texture is uniformly smooth, 1 to 3 minutes.
• Pour pureed mixture into a 6-quart pot and add chicken broth, bouillon, cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer, 45 to 60 minutes. Add chicken and simmer for 30 minutes more.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line half sheet baking pans with parchment paper.
• Brush each tortilla with oil on each side, slice into 1/2-inch pieces, and spread onto the prepared baking sheets in a single layer.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned and crispy, about 10 minutes.
• Ladle soup into bowls, garnish with tortilla strips and Monterey Jack cheese. Top with sour cream, avocado, lime, jalapeno, and cilantro as desired.

PUMPKIN TORTILLA SOUP PERFECTION!

Steps:

• Coat breast with salt, pepper and cardamom. Heat oil in a pot medium high heat. Brown chicken on both sides and remove setting a side. Will not be completely cooked at this point.
• Add to pot onion, garlic and carrots saute till tender about 5 minutes adding a touch more oil if needed.
• Add chiles.
• Add wine to deglaze and reduce completely.
• Add tomato paste and stir to coat onion mixture. Cook 3 minutes stirring constantly.
• Add pumpkin puree stir in and follow with chicken broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer.
• Dice browned chicken and add to pot.
• Add corn and 2 tablespoon cilantro. Simmer till tortillas are ready.
• Meanwhile heat inch oil and fry corn tortilla strips in batches. When browned remove to paper towel to drain and season with salt.
• These are tempting so you may want to fry a couple extra. ;).
• In bowls place tortilla strips, ladle soup over tortillas.
• Garnish with additional cilantro, avocados, sour cream and lime slices to be squeezed over soup.

VEGETARIAN PUMPKIN TORTILLA SOUP

Steps:

• Cut 6 of the tortillas into 1/2-inch squares.
• Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic, cilantro, and chopped tortillas and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is soft.
• Add cumin and crushed peppers or cayenne and sauté for another minute.
• Add pumpkin, tomatoes, vegetable stock, and salt and stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for one hour.
• While the soup is simmering, cut the remaining 6 tortillas in half and then into 1/4-inch-wide strips. Heat 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Fry tortilla strips in two batches until crisp and light golden (about a minute). Using a slotted spoon, transfer tortilla strips to towels to drain.
• To serve, ladle soup into bowls and garnish with tortilla strips, avocado, and cilantro.
• *As a personal preference, I like to put the cilantro, tortilla strips, avocado, (ALONG WITH sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese - my own additions) into smaller serving bowls for people to add themselves. Yum.
• *You can tailor the type and amount of hot pepper to your own tastes. We usually make this with a couple of crushed chile pequins but have also used cayenne pepper, which is more readily available. If you're not sure how much to use, start with 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne, taste the soup after it has simmered for awhile, and then add more if desired.