Sopa Seca

I first encountered this recipe in the Cook’s Illustrated cookbook The Quick Recipe. This has become one of our favorite dishes. Sopa Seca is essentially a Mexican casserole, based on pasta or sometimes rice. The pasta or the rice is browned before being combined with liquid and other ingredients and baked.

The recipe we like is made with pasta. Traditionally, the pasta used is fideo, a coiled vermicelli (sometimes fideo also refers to a dish similar to sopa seca.) I just use gluten free spaghetti. Tinkyada is the best brand that I have found.

The browning of the pasta was a surprising technique to me at first. (It also freaks out anyone who may be in the kitchen with you when you are cooking). It adds a rich nutty flavor that stands up nicely to the other strong flavors in the dish.

Browning the pasta

It works best to brown the pasta a handful at a time, so that you have more control. It can go from brown to burnt quickly. As each batch browns, transfer it to a baking dish.

All the browned pasta

Once all of the pasta is browned, you can use the same skillet to saute the onions and spices (cumin and chipotles). After a few minutes I add beans and veggies (in this case spinach and shredded zucchini, or sometimes broccoli chopped small) to make this a one dish meal. Then in goes the liquid that will cook the pasta, in my case veggie broth and the liquid from the tomatoes. Once it’s come up to bubbling, carefully pour the whole thing over the browned pasta.

Black beans, onions, garlic, chipotles, cumin, tomatoes, and shredded zuccini

You just have to have faith when you brown the pasta in the first step, and you just have to hang in there for the next part as well. When you pour the broth and veggies over the pasta, all of the veggies and the beans just kind of sit on top of the still hard noodles. It really doesn’t seem like it’s going to work at all.

The hot onion bean and tomato mixture goes over the noodles

After it’s been in the oven for 15 minutes or so, the liquid is absorbed by the noodles. When you give it a stir, you can see that the noodles are soft.

The pasta has cooked

Once the pasta has softened, you top the whole thing with some shredded cheddar or Monterey jack (pepper jack if you fell like having a really spicy dish), and return it to the oven for another five minutes. Creamy, spicy and delicious, I like this with some cilantro, avocado, a little sour cream and a big squeeze of lime juice. Make a big batch, it reheats nicely.

Grit-Style Chilaquile Casserole

This is another winner from The Grit Cookbook. I think of it as a kind of southwestern/Mexican lasagna. At the center of it all is one of the core recipes from this cookbook (referred to as “fundamentals”) Grit Pintos. These are dried pinto beans cooked with cumin, onion and bay leaf until tender. These are miles and miles above anything you’re going to get out of a can and well worth the minimal effort it takes to make them. They are super tasty all on their own, and keep well so making a big batch is no burden.

The delicious Grit Pintos

The casserole starts with a layer of torn tortillas covering the bottom of the pan. The original recipe specifies flour tortillas, but I think corn are much better. Slightly stale is good, because then they don’t get soggy. My required preferred store bought corn tortillas are Maria and Ricardo’s. I have not encountered any other brand in my local stores that is any good.

The next layer is grated cheese. I like a mix of sharp cheddar and monterey jack. Next, the pintos, well drained. Sometimes I like to top the pintos with a scant layer of spinach that has been cooked and squeezed dry. After that, a mix of chopped onions, zucchini, yellow squash, garlic and seasoning. This mixed is sauted until the whole thing is starting to caramelize before being added to the chilaquile. The caramelization builds flavor and just as important, cooks off any excessive liquid that the vegetables would shed while the chilaquile bakes that would make the whole thing soggy. (Hence also the importance of well drained beans and squeezed dry spinach.)

The squash and onion layer

Finely minced jalapeños top the veggies along with a light layer of the cheese. More torn tortillas go on top. Then a lightly beaten mixture of eggs, buttermilk and prepared mustard is poured over the top (sometimes you have to move the tortillas around a bit to get the liquid to flow down into the rest of the layers. A good quality buttermilk and eggs make a huge difference here. Locally I favor the buttermilk from Mapleline Farm. It’s really thick but still pourable and very flavorful.

Tangent: I’m comforted by the fact that Mapleline delivers, and by the range of products. If I didn’t have a car or something else kept me from making regular trips to the store, I could get yogurt, (or milk to make my own yogurt), granola, bread, butter, cheese, coffee ( and it’s the coffee I like to buy Pierce Brothers) and seltzer. If I could manage to get to Clementine’s, the  fruit and vegetable shop on the other side of the hill from where I am sitting right now, I’d never need go to the supermarket or the coop again. Hmmm…

Anyhoo, another light layer of cheese goes over the buttermilk mixture, and I like to sprinkle on some more minced jalapeños. Then the whole thing is baked up until slightly browned and bubbly. The buttermilk/egg mixture makes a light sort of custard effect throughout the structure. It’s good as is, or topped with a little salsa.

The finished chilaquile

I would have taken a picture of the inside but I was too busy eating.