Chicken Tortilla Soup

Now that fall has arrived, it seemed like a good idea to make soup.  Here is one that packs a lot of flavor.  It is really not hard to make, but requires some time (about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish) and quite a few ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1 TBL olive oil
• 1 chopped large onion
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 20 roasted garlic cloves
• 1 medium chopped jalapeno pepper
• 1 chopped bell pepper (I used red)
• 2.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cans hominy
• 2 (32 oz) containers of chicken broth
• 2 chipotle chiles
• 2 TBL chipotle sauce
• 2 (14 oz) can's diced tomatles
• 1 (14 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato paste
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 cup masa harina

First, roast about 6 heads of garlic.  To do this just cut off the tops of the heads, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt.  Wrap them in aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for about an hour.  To remove cloves just squeeze them out.

Next saute onion, garlic, jalapeno and green pepper with olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven until soft.

Next, add all the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.  Wait about 15 minutes and rove the chicken and shred.  I used two forks for this task. 

Return shredded chicken to the pot and simmer for about an hour.

I think the key to this soup is the masa.  It really gives the soup the tortilla flavor while acting as a thickening agent.  This recipe also makes a lot of soup.  I am going to be freezing most of it.