When there’s even a hint of chill in the air, I want soup. All the time - I want soup. So when I saw this recipe I knew that I wanted to try it asap. Plus, it helped that I had all (but one) of the ingredients. Just like all of my recent dishes, this one was easy to make. I usually save the more “complex” ones for the weekend because the last thing I want to do after I come home from work is labor in the kitchen for hours. Plus, being less than 2 months away from my due date, I’m constantly hungry and I want to eat at the moment I get home. This soup can easily be prepared in 30 minutes  - someone call Rachael Ray!

There was one change that I made to the recipe - I added meat. I usually don’t make meaty soups, but this one just needed something. I can’t explain it. It needed more flavor and, to me, last night, meat was the flavor that it needed.

Lucky for me, while I was making the soup, my husband came home with groceries and picked up some Italian turkey sausage. So he cooked up 2 sausages (separately) in a frying pan (without any oil or spices) and then added the ground sausage into the soup. He then let the soup “sit” for about 10 minutes so it would absorb the flavor of the sausage and vice versa. Now, honestly, I’m not a culinary anything nor have I studied culinary anything, so I have no clue if it worked. But, hey, the soup was incredible and by the end of the night we had a tiny tiny super tiny bowl left over.

Since the chile and the adobo sauce add a bit lot of a kick, we chose to add sour cream to our bowls to negate that spiciness. I also added a few mushrooms because I love veggies in my soup. No other reason. OH! I also used chicken broth instead of veggie stock.

Mexican Potato Soup
serves 4, active time 30 to 40 minutes, total time 50 to 60 minutes
(not sure why it took 50-60 minutes, it took me about 45 minutes including preparations and cooking)
Recipe from Serious Eats

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boiling potatoes, peeled and diced (about 2 cups)
• Kosher salt
• 3 large red ripe tomatoes, about 1 1/4 pounds, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 canned chipotle in adobo sauce, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups vegetable stock (I used chicken broth b/c that’s what I had)
• 1/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped

Directions:

Place in large saucepan and cover with water by about three inches. Season water with salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender but firm to the bite (potatoes will cook further in step 2). Drain potatoes and set aside. Meanwhile, blend tomatoes, onion, garlic, and chipotle pepper in blender at high speed until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Pour tomato mixture into large saucepan. Add vegetable stock and potatoes. Stir to combine and season to taste with salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are completely tender, about 7 to 8 minutes. For thicker broth, mash a few potatoes against side of pot with wooden spoon. Add cilantro and simmer for 2 minutes longer. Serve immediately with extra cilantro, sour cream, and cashew cream as desired.