The Truth about Tortilla

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

I got confused with the word tortilla. I always thought it refers to the kind of flatbread or chips that they serve in Mexican restaurant. How sorry was I for my ignorant. Apparently the Spanish word denotes two different classes of foods.
In Mexico, tortilla is what most of us know it to be: either flour tortilla used for burritos or corn tortilla most commonly used for tortilla chips, but also serves as an essential ingredient for enchiladas, tostadas and flautas. However in Spain, Puerto Rico, South America and Cuba, tortilla refers to any round, layered omelette. Now that makes sense. At Sunshine Kitchen (Gourmet Market at Paragon), where I frequent, the tortilla come in two types: chopped potatoes or pumpkins. I prefer the one with chopped potatoes because they hold up well. The pumpkin is a little too mushy. That's not what I'm cooking though.
I guess it's called tortilla soup because the use of corn tortilla. It's basically a very rich and flavorful fresh tomato and sun-dried tomato soup with hints of spicyness.

Ingredients:
(6 servings)
6 oven-toasted tortilla shells, carefully cut into matchstick-thin strips
(If you only have corn tortilla, cut them into matchstick-thin strips before you bake them with glug of olive oil and salt in oven until crispy)

20 red cherry tomatoes, halved

3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large white onion, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 can crushed tomatoe
6 cups vegetable broth or water

a few sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled

1. Toss cherry tomatoes with a bit of olive oil and salt. Bake inn oven at 180C for 40 minutes until the tomatoes are shrunken and golden around the edges.
   (I did this step a day in advance. The tomatoes keep well in a jar for days in refrigerator)
2. Cook onion and garlic with a splash of butter (I avoid cooking with olive oil) along with a pinch of salt. Stir in spices and then the crushed tomato. Cook for 5 mintues or so. It should thicken just a bit.
3. Remove from heat and add one cup of broth and puree with a blender. Add the remanining broth and puree until smooth.
   
4. Bring the soup back to simmer and cook for another 10 minutes.
   
5. Serve in individual bowl topped with tortilla chips, roasted and sun-dried tomatoes, and some goat cheese.
   
6. I happened to have some cilantro to throw in as well. You can also finish with slices of avocado, or white onions. I added extra goat cheese to make it creamier.