Let me preface this post by saying I am NOT a food blogger. I wish I were, but I confess I am severely challenged in the kitchen. I try real hard, but I struggle with cooking. I think it’s the amount of time it takes to prepare and clean up that frustrates me when I come home after a long day at work.
However, I am a foodie….big time! I can eat like no tomorrow. One of my favorite dishes is my mom’s recipe for Mexican sopa de estrellitas (little stars soup). I can seriously eat this every day. I posted the above pic on instagram a few weeks ago and was encouraged by my blog followers to share the recipe. So, here goes as promised.
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
3 cloves of garlic
a slice of one onion
3-4 Roma tomatoes (read below for additional suggestion)
10 cherry tomatoes (my twist)
1/2 cup canola oil
3 1/2 cups of water
1 bag of stars mexican pasta
salt to taste
Recipe (cooking time 45 minutes)
First prepare the tomato sauce by peeling three cloves of garlic. I like to slice them in half. Cut a slice of an onion. Cut in half the Roma and cherry tomatoes. This is where I deviate from my mom’s recipe. I actually add 6 Roma tomatoes and the cherry tomatoes I listed above. I feel the more tomatoes, the better the broth tastes and cherry tomatoes add a special flavor that I really enjoy. My mom doesn’t use cherry tomatoes, but I’ve added a little twist to her recipe! Add the garlic, onion slice and tomatoes to a blender with half a cup of water. Liquify until completely blended.
In a large pot, cook the entire bag of estrellitas (little stars) with 1/2 a cup of canola oil or until the pasta is covered with oil. Set on medium to low flame.
Cook until the estrellitas begin to change into a light brown color. Do not over cook. It will taste bitter if you do. You will have to watch over this carefully.
Once the pasta has become slightly browned, drain the oil from the pasta and then return the pasta to the pot. You can turn off the flame while you do this.
Add the tomato blend you blended and put on medium heat. You should hear the pasta make a cool sizzling noise when you combine the two! Bring to boil.
Once it has come to boil, add 2-3 cups of water to the broth. You don’t want to over-water the soup, but you also want to avoid from it being too thick. I don’t like thick soup, personally, so I prefer 3 cups of water. Add salt to taste. This is very important because it will taste flavorless without it!
This may take up to about twenty minutes. Make sure you taste the pasta so it is soft and not hard. Also, the pasta should soak up some of the water so it thickens.
Voila! Sopa de estrellitas (little stars soup)! I cannot take credit for this recipe. It is my mom’s amazing recipe that brings me home every time. She always made this for me as a child and I love it. You will never, ever find this in any Mexican restaurant. It’s home cooking and only a Mexican mom can make it with all her love.
I hope you enjoy la sopa (the soup)!
Photo credit: Mrs. ShuGar
