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Vegetarian Chili with Lots of Fritos

Source of Recipe

Bon Appétit


Recipe Introduction

"Quick, spicy, filling, and made mostly of pantry ingredients, this chili/tortilla soup/frito pie mashup is calling your name. (Shhh. Listen closely.) Garnish it with the toppings of your choice: We like avocado, sour cream, and chopped white onion, but you can add shredded cheese, pickled or fresh jalapeños, and/or sliced scallions or radishes. You can use any tortilla chips you like—they add body and flavor to the soup itself and go on top for extra oomph. You could also fry or bake your own stale tortillas, cut into strips, but if we're being honest, salty, crunchy Fritos will probably taste better."

Recipe Link: https://tinyurl.com/vegetarian-chili-with-fritos

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 large white onion
â—¦ 6 cloves garlic
â—¦ ½ bunch cilantro
â—¦ 1 chipotle chile in adobo, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
â—¦ ¼ cup tomato paste
â—¦ 2 15-ounce cans pinto beans
â—¦ ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
â—¦ 2 teaspoons chili powder
â—¦ 1 28-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
â—¦ 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal or 2 teaspoons Morton kosher salt, plus more
â—¦ 1 ½ cups Fritos or other salty tortilla chips, divided
â—¦ 1 lime
â—¦ 1 avocado
â—¦ ½ cup sour cream
â—¦ Freshly ground black pepper


Recipe

Prep your ingredients: Finely chop onion. Cut in half from top to bottom. Trim top, then peel onion skin and first tough layer; discard. Leave root end on. Make slices parallel to cutting board, starting close to the board and moving upward. Then make slices lengthwise from top of onion to root end. Slice across onion, again from top to bottom, and you'll come away with nice little cubes. Run your knife through once more if any pieces are too big. You should have about 2 cups chopped onions. Set aside 2 tablespoons for serving.

Smash, peel, and finely chop garlic. Separate leaves from stems from cilantro. Coarsely chop leaves; set aside for serving. Finely chop stems. Using a fork, pull chipotle chile from can, then finely chop until a paste forms. Transfer to a small bowl, along with 1 teaspoon adobo sauce from can. Add tomato paste. Drain and rinse pinto beans.

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high. Add onion, garlic, cilantro stems, and chili powder and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is starting to soften, 5 to 6 minutes. Add tomato paste mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until brick red and starting to stick to bottom of pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Add fire-roasted tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, until tomatoes are cooked down and slightly darker in color, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add beans, 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal or 2 teaspoons Morton kosher salt, and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until soup has reduced slightly and flavors have melded, 30 to 35 minutes. Mash about one-quarter of beans with the back of a wooden spoon or potato masher—this will make the soup thicker and creamier. Stir in 1 cup Fritos (or 1 cup crushed tortilla chips) and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Squeeze in juice of one lime half, then taste for salt (you may need to add as much as 2 teaspoons).

Cut remaining lime half into 4 wedges. Slice avocado in half, carefully remove pit, then crosshatch flesh in its shell. Scoop out flesh with a spoon. Divide soup among bowls. Top with sour cream, avocado, reserved cilantro leaves and chopped onion, and remaining ½ cup Fritos. Season with pepper.

Makes 4 to 6 servings