I’m a sucker for any new-to-me ingredient I find at the market. I have an assortment of exotic spices, pasta and beans because of it.
Sometimes my eye falls on a certain something every time I open the pantry door. For the past few weeks it was the Mayocoba beans that I brought home awhile ago, begging me to cook them. It’s been cold here lately, threatening to snow every other day. I’ve been hiding under a blanket on the couch parked right in front of my space heater. I wish I could warm up from the inside.
Soup! That’s what the beans were trying to tell me, it’s soup time.
These beans are perfect for soup, mild tasting, almost buttery, great for mashing. I wanted to stay true to this South American bean so I invented a smokey, hearty soup with South American-ish ingredients. I got the smokiness by broiling the onion and bell pepper until they charred a little bit. I also used a chipotle pepper in adobo which has a beautiful rich, smokey flavor, full of umami, the ‘fifth’ taste. And then I added smoked ham, which was perfect! I chose traditional garnishes, cilantro, avocado and Mexican Crema, which is a first for me. I LOVE this stuff! It’s a Mexican sour cream, that is thick like heavy cream, soured, salty and tangy. I also tried this in my scrambled eggs instead of milk or cream, YUMM!! My eggs didn’t need any salt and it fluffed up so nice and incredibly moist too. If you have any additional uses for Mexican cream, leave a comment. I wanna know. It might be a new staple in my tiny fridge, competition is getting fierce in there.
Note on the beans. They are also known as Canary beans or Peruano beans.
If you are new to Latin American cooking, diced green chiles are a handy ingredient to have. They have a medium heat and have a robust, peppery flavor to them. I have used them in burritos, sauces, marinades and now soup. Sometimes they offer mild and hot. I always use the mild. I like to layer my heat so that I don’t make a dish too spicy.
Chipotle chilis are smoked jalapeños. You can find them canned in adobo sauce which can be a great addition to marinades, sauces and soups. Since I only used half of a large chipotle, I packaged the rest in plastic wrap and placed them in a freezer zipper bag and tossed them in the freezer. Now I have individually wrapped peppers for future use.
By charring the bell peppers and onions, you can add smokey flavor to any dish. I broiled these on a baking sheet in my electric oven. It turned out great.
Assembling the remaining ingredients after the vegetables are roasted is easy. Just heat, blend with a stick blender, food processor or regular blender, add the ham and you are done.
Enjoy this hearty, smokey soup with ham and stay warm this Winter! Buen Provecho.
A hearty and smokey Peruvian bean soup that will warm you up from the inside. This soup is flavored with roasted onion, bell pepper, chipotle in adobo, oregano and smokey ham. Yum! Easy to make and SO satisfying:)
Ingredients
- 2 lb bag of Mayocoba beans (aka Canary or Peruano beans)
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- cooking spray
- 1 garlic clove, whole
- 1/2 large chipotle in adobo, seeded and stem removed.
- 4 oz can of mild green chiles
- 32 oz vegetable stock
- 1 Tbs oregano
- 3 cups of smoked ham, cubed into bite-size pieces
- salt & black pepper to taste (add this near the end, you won't know how salty or hot your soup is until the end)
- Mexican crema
- avocado
- cilantro
Instructions
- Rinse and soak beans in 6 cups of water and 1 Tbs salt over night. Alternatively you may boil this for 5 minutes, cover and let rest for 1 hour. Rinse, drain and set aside.
- On a rimmed baking sheet, place onion and bell pepper in a single layer. Spray with cooking spray. Broil in oven until slightly charred.
- In a large soup pot, place onions, bell pepper, garlic, chipotle, can of mild green chiles, stock, beans and oregano. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 40-60 minutes or until tender.
- Blend with an immersion blender until most of the ingredients are well pulverized. Alternatively you may use a bean masher, food processor or regular blender.
- Add ham to soup pot and simmer for another 20 minutes, stir often. This will give the starch in the beans you mashed to thicken the soup.
MORE SOUP RECIPES
SENEGALESE CHICKEN SOUP
POTATO SOUP WITH BACON
PORK POSOLE
POLISH BEET SOUP
