3½ cups good-quality chicken stock
a little olive oil
2 fresh green jalapeño or serrano chilies,
seeded and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 ripe tomatoes
8oz (225g) pumpkin flowers or
zucchini flowers
juice of 2 limes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a saucepan. Meanwhile, heat a large
heavy frying pan and add a little olive oil. Reserve some of the chilies to
garnish the soup, and cook the remainder in the hot oil with the garlic for
1–2 minutes or until fragrant. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally,
until pale golden brown.
2Cut the tomatoes in half, and grate the open side of each half on a large
grater. (This is a quick method of getting the pulp from the tomatoes; the
skin stays in your hand and can then be discarded.) Add the tomato to the pan
with the onion. Discard the stems from the pumpkin flowers and coarsely chop
the flowers, reserving 6 whole flowers for garnish. When the tomato has cooked
down slightly, add the chopped pumpkin flowers to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes
until the flowers are barely wilted. Pour in the hot chicken stock, and season
with salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes.
3While the soup is simmering, heat a small frying pan and add a little olive oil.
Cook the reserved whole pumpkin flowers until they are wilted and parts are
golden brown. Season with salt and pepper, and add the reserved green chilies.
Remove from the heat and set aside.
4Using a blender or food processor and working in batches as needed,
process the soup until smooth; return it to the pan. Add the lime juice. Taste
and adjust the seasoning—there should be a balance between the sweet onion,
chicken stock, spicy green chilies, and salt. The lime juice wakes up the flavors
and provides a delicious sour edge to this simple soup. To serve, pour into
bowls and garnish each with a whole pumpkin flower and some green chilies.
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