Vegetarian Pumpkin Tortilla Soup

Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 12 (6 inch) corn tortillas
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup finely chopped cilantro, plus more sprigs for garnish
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• chile or dried chile pequins or other dried hot peppers or cayenne pepper, to taste*
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree or 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 5 cups unsalted vegetable stock
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• 1 -2 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and cubed

Recipe

• 1 cut 6 of the tortillas into 1/2-inch squares.
• 2 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.
• 3 add cumin and crushed peppers or cayenne and sauté for another minute.
• 4 add pumpkin, tomatoes, vegetable stock, and salt and stir to combine. bring to a boil. cover, reduce heat, and simmer for one hour.
• 5 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.
• 6 to serve, ladle soup into bowls and garnish with tortilla strips, avocado, and cilantro.
• 7 *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.
• 8 *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.