Sopa de Queso Recipe – Nicaragua
SOPA DE QUESO (CHEESE SOUP)
Makes 6 servings
- Water
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 2 green peppers, sliced
- 2 red tomatoes, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 bunch mint
- 4 c whole milk
- 2 ½ c Maseca
- Pinch of salt
- 3 c queso fresco or farmer’s cheese, grated
- 1 ½ T achiote paste
- 1 T fair trade olive oil
- 1 c vegetable oil
In a large pot, boil 4 cups water. Add onion, pepper, tomatoes, garlic and mint. Simmer until cooked. Meanwhile, combine Maseca and 2 cups water in a mixing bowl. Knead to form a dough. Mix 1 T olive oil into achiote paste. Mix cheese, salt and achiote paste into dough. Take 1 cup of dough and place in separate bowl; stir in ½ cup water. Set aside the rest of the dough to make fritters. In a separate pot, bring milk to a boil. Remove mint and discard half of the vegetables from the first pot. Then, add the dough-and-water mixture and boiled milk to the pot, and salt to taste. Stir and turn off heat.
To make the fritters, form the remaining dough into palm-sized circles. Fry in oil until crispy and brown. Garnish the soup with mint, and serve with rice and fritters.
