This dish is my vegetarian rendition of Nancy Zaslavsky’s Pozole Verde: Hominy and Meat Soup with Green Herbs from “A Cook’s Tour of Mexico.” In the Pacific Northwest, we frequently receive tomatillos and greens in our CSA boxes; this is a terrific way to use them all up. With a fast red onion pickle and some cotija cheese crumbles, this soup tastes fantastic.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 31 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 10 hrs 6 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- ½ pound dried pinto beans
- ½ cup vegetable oil, divided
- 8 ounces raw shelled pumpkin seeds
- 1 pound tomatillos – husked, cored, chopped
- 10 serrano peppers, chopped
- 1 bunch arugula leaves, chopped
- 10 leaves fresh spinach, chopped
- 10 leaves Boston lettuce, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 quarts vegetable stock, or more as needed
- 2 (29 ounce) cans white hominy, drained and rinsed
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place pinto beans in a large stock pot with water to cover; let soak, 8 hours to overnight. Drain.
- Cover the beans with about 3 inches water and cook over medium-low heat until tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Drain.
- Heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add pumpkin seeds; cook and stir until light brown and popping, about 6 minutes. Let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
- Pour pumpkin seeds and oil into a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Add 1/2 the tomatillos, serrano peppers, arugula, spinach, lettuce, parsley, and cilantro into the blender. Puree until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat with remaining tomatillos, serrano peppers, arugula, spinach, lettuce, parsley, and cilantro.
- Heat remaining 1/4 cup oil in a deep pot. Add the tomatillo sauce carefully. Simmer, stirring with a wooden spoon, until thickened, about 30 minutes.
- Pour pinto beans, vegetable stock, and hominy into the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Let simmer, uncovered, until flavors are thoroughly blended, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- You can use dried cranberry beans in place of the pinto beans if desired.
- Substitute serrano chiles with any mild chile you prefer.
- You may need to blend the sauce in more than 2 batches depending on the size of your blender or food processor.
Reviews
Love it! I never thought to use pumpkin seeds.
Terrific soup! Very nice on a cold, rainy evening. I have substituted kale and butter lettuce or romaine for the arugula and Bibb lettuce when I don’t have the others in stock. I’ve varied the pepper ratios too to change it up. The tomatillo sauce is very thick to start with but thins as you cook it. Great flavors! The Nutrition Facts listed seem very inaccurate though.
Really tasty soup. I enjoyed it a lot. Only changes were using canned pintos and I used a milder chili pepper because I am a wimp