Mexican Chicken Fideo Soup
Chicken/Poultry
Soups
minced
chopped
chopped
cleaned, finely chopped
chopped or squished in your hands
minced finely
or more if needed
or angel hair, broken into small 2-inch lengths
chopped in small 1/2" cubes
canned (Las Palmas if you can find it)
shredded or chopped in small pieces
or queso fresca (garnish)
chopped (garnish)
Notes: If you'd like this soup to have more flavor depth, rehydrate some guajillo or ancho chiles - the dried ones - in water for an hour, then open them, remove stems, seeds and membranes and chop them up - add them all to the blender batch that gets pureed in step #3 below. I didn't do this when I made it, but next time I will.
1. In a Dutch oven heat the canola oil. Add the garlic and saute for less than a minute (do not let garlic brown or burn). Add the chopped onions, celery and leeks. Continue cooking until the onions turn translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Pour in the tomatoes, with the juices and chipotle chiles and cook for a few more minutes.
3. Remove from heat and scoop about 2/3 of this mixture into a blender or food processor. Add about 1/2 cup of water. Don't overload it as it may blow the lid off (from the heat). Puree that mixture and pour it back into the pan.
4. Return pan to the heat, add salt and add some of the chicken broth if needed (if it's too thick to simmer without burning). Bring to a simmer and allow it to cook while you prepare the noodles.
5. Into a large nonstick skillet pour about 2 T of olive oil. Warm to a medium heat. Add the fideo pasta to the pot and fry until the pasta turns light brown. This will take about 5 minutes depending on the heat level. Keep stirring throughout or the noodles will burn. You want them to be golden brown, no darker.
6. Add the golden brown fideo to the soup and raise the heat to medium.
7. Add the remaining chicken broth and stir well. Let the soup come to a boil and let it bubble for about 5 minutes then turn the heat down to a simmer. Cover the pot.
8. After 15 minutes add 2 cups of water, stir well and cover and continue to simmer.
10. After another 15 minutes add the remaining cup of chicken broth, stir well and cover the pot again up so the soup continues simmering.
11. In 20 more minutes add one more cup of water, cover and let simmer for another 10 minutes. At this point add chicken. Taste the soup and add more salt if needed.
12. Serve hot and garnish with the crumbled cheese and cilantro.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 265 Calories; 12g Fat (39.9% calories from fat); 17g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 48mg Cholesterol; 960mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 2 Lean Meat; 3 Vegetable; 2 Fat.