Spicy Pinto Bean Soup

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: This Mexican bean soup, called sopa tarasca, features deep chile flavor and a silky texture. Named after the Tarascos, an indigenous people of the southwestern state of Michoacán, this soup is generally a smooth puree of pinto beans heavily seasoned with dried ancho chiles. To re-create the complexity of this traditional soup, we turned to three diversely flavored chiles: Ancho chiles provided subtle sweetness, canned chipotle chiles in adobo contributed smoky, spicy flavor with a bit of acidity, and a fresh jalapeño offered bright vegetal notes. Pureeing our chiles along with
tomatoes, onion, garlic, and oregano in a blender created a vibrant puree, which we cooked in hot oil to concentrate its flavor. We added our broth to this rich base, which allowed us to scrape up the flavorful browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Using this aromatic broth to cook our dried beans infused them with flavor. We found that using a standard amount of cooking liquid to beans resulted in a soup that was too thick and pasty once blended. Doubling the ratio of liquid to beans allowed us to achieve a light and creamy consistency while still highlighting the flavor of the beans. Serve with toasted pepitas, chopped fresh cilantro, and Mexican crema or sour cream.

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

• Salt and pepper
• 8 ounces (1¼ cups) dried pinto beans, picked over and rinsed
• 3 dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into ½-inch pieces (¾ cup)
• 2 tomatoes, cored and quartered
• 1 onion, quartered
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 jalapeño chile, stemmed, halved, and seeded
• 1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 7 cups chicken broth, plus extra as needed
• 2 bay leaves

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Dissolve 1½ tablespoons salt in 2 quarts cold water in large bowl or container. Add beans and soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
2. Drain beans and rinse well. Toast anchos in Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 2 to 6 minutes; transfer to blender. Add tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeño, chipotle, and oregano and process until smooth, about 30 seconds.
3. Heat oil in now-empty pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add ancho mixture and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture has darkened in color and liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Stir in broth, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in beans and bay leaves and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer gently until beans are tender, 1 to 1½ hours.
4. Discard bay leaves. Working in batches, process soup in clean, dry blender until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Return soup to again-empty pot, adjust consistency with extra broth as needed, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.