Cream of Roasted Hatch Chile Soup

Ahhhh, Hatch Chile season.  I love it.

I can buy them in mass quantities, already roasted which is so much easier than  roasting them myself at home.  When you select a package of roasted chiles, make sure they are really roasted.  You want the skins charred black.  They will be much easier to remove the skins.  If they are just partially roasted you'll have to peel off the waxy skin and that's a pain.


Let's talk about heat for a moment.  I definitely remove the seeds because I just don't want the texture.  Even if the Hatch chiles are the "mild" variety, the veins pack some heat.  So, I would suggest if you want your soup really spicy leave all the veins.  If you want a little bit of spice, remove half of the veins.  If you really want the soup milder, remove all the veins.  You will still get that fabulous Hatch Chile flavor.


 

 After rinsing all of the charred skins off, removing seeds and removing veins, coarsely chop and put into a pan with chicken broth.  You are just heating the broth and chiles up since the chiles are already cooked.

 In batches pureé the broth and chiles until very smooth. 

Since you are blending something hot I would suggest placing a tea towel over the top of the blender lid just in case the contents decide to spew everywhere.


 

You should have about 8 cups of pureé

 Pour the pureé back into the saucepan and slowly re-heat.  Add the cream then salt to taste.  The seasoning of the final produce will depend on how seasoned the broth you use is. 

Cream of Roasted Hatch Chile Soup
Serves 8

Ingredients:
6 cups chicken broth
2 lbs whole roasted hatch chiles
1 cup Heavy cream

Method:
Purchase two pounds of roasted hatch chiles from the local roaster. Rinse/clean the skin off the chiles. Male a slit down the Chile and move the seeds and two of the three veins in the pepper.

Roughly chop the chiles and add to the chicken broth, just long enough to warm and meld flavors with the chicken stock.  

In batches, pureé the vegetables and broth.  Pour back into the saucepan and slowly re-heat.  Stir in the cream then season to taste.  Serve with croutons or crushed tortilla chips.