Ancho chicken tortilla soup

Method

Ancho chicken tortilla soup

1) Heat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Slice the tortillas into 1cm strips and scatter on large baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray and bake until golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and reserve.

2) While the tortillas crisp, add the ancho chillis and the chicken stock to a large pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chillis are tender. Remove from the heat to cool.

3) While the anchos simmer, heat a medium soup pot with vegetable oil over high heat. Add the corn and saute until charred at the edges, 2 to 3 mins. Reduce the heat a little, add the onions, jalapeno, red chilli pepper and garlic. Season with cumin, smoked paprika and cinnamon. Saute for 5 mins, then stir in the tomatoes. Puree the anchos and the stock in a food processor, then add it to the soup pot. Stir in the honey and the shredded chicken and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Thin the soup with 250 to 500ml of water and simmer over low heat to combine flavors, about 5 mins.

4) Zest and juice 1 lime and add to the soup pot. Seed and dice the avocados and add to a small bowl. Dress with the juice of the remaining lime.

5) Pile some crispy tortilla strips into each soup bowl. Top with diced avocado and ladle the soup over the avocado. Garnish with sour cream and whole or chopped coriander leaves.