Potatoes meet poblanos with a shower of creative toppings
We have officially entered soup season, and this year, and I couldn’t be more excited. To be honest, I was never much of a soup person until recently—blame the bland, watery soups I was served in my childhood. But over the years living in the gray Pacific Northwest, I’ve developed and collected recipes for soups that are anything but boring. Some favorites include the creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup from the iconic Moosewood Cookbook, a lemony chicken and orzo number I make when I’m feeling sniffly, and now, this velvety poblano-potato soup topped with a shower of tasty garnishes. The recipe was originally inspired by Mexican espagueti verde, in which long strands of pasta are tossed with a creamy, poblano-based sauce. Last time I made that dish, I tasted the sauce and thought it was so delicious that I would happily eat it plain—without the pasta—and this soup was born.
The soup is made from a base of sautéed onions and garlic, plus a couple Yukon Gold potatoes. The potatoes add body to the soup, thickening it slightly and making it hearty enough for a filling dinner. I let the potatoes and aromatics simmer in chicken or vegetable stock until they’re soft. Meanwhile, I tend to the poblanos.
While the spiciness of poblano peppers can vary, they’re generally very mild, bringing a sweet, verdant flavor with just a hint of heat. Before the peppers go in the soup, they take a trip under a hot broiler until their skin is charred and their flesh has softened. Once the peppers come out of the oven, the blackened, wrinkled skins are easily peeled away and discarded—the skins can be very bitter, so don’t skip this step. Next the peppers are roughly diced and thrown into the simmering soup.
Now, this is meant to be a pureed soup, but I always find myself sneaking a small bowl to sample at this stage, while there are still soft chunks of potato and tender pieces of pepper floating around. With just a simple garnish of cilantro, you could easily serve the soup like this. That said, when blended together with a handful of cilantro leaves, this soup takes on a whole new character—deeply sweet and earthy thanks to the peppers and smooth and thick from the potatoes, not to mention gorgeously green. At this point, I like to stir in a half cup of Mexican-style crema for both creaminess and tang, but sour cream or crème fraîche would work nicely too. To serve, I divide the soup among bowls and top with an additional swirl of cream, some extra cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice, crumbly queso fresco, and a few crunchy pepitas. It’s not just a feast for the eyes but a delicious, decidedly non-boring soup to keep you cozy on a cold autumn day.