Pasta Soup (Sopa de Pasta)

I don't think I have mentioned this before, but my mother-in-law is a really awesome cook.  What is even more amazing about this, at least to me, is that she does not like cooking - she would much rather be puttering around with her plants.

Early on, after moving here to Mexico, I fell in love with her Sopa de Pasta.  It is a simple and very popular dish here in Mexico.  I liked it so much that she ended up teaching it to me and now I make it once every couple of weeks.  I would like to share her recipe with you.

Sopa de Pasta (Pasta Soup)
Serves about 10 for first course
4 Tomatoes
1 Slice of Onion
1 Garlic Clove
2 Chicken Bullion Cubes (enough for 4 cups of water)
200 g Small Pasta or Spaghetti broken into 2-3 inch pieces
2 Tb Vegetable Oil (more as needed)
Salt (to taste)

Assemble all your ingredients along with a blender, a large pot, and your trusty wooden spoon.

Heat about 2 Tb of vegetable oil in the pot and add the small pasta, stirring to coat.  If needed, feel free to add a little more oil.

After the pasta has been in the pan for about 2 minutes, you will need to stir it constantly until it reaches a nice toasty brown color.  If you don't, you will end up with some burnt pasta and some that has not been toasted at all.

Meanwhile, quarter the tomatoes and add them along with the onion slice and garlic clove into the blender.  Add 1 cup of water and blend.

When the pasta is nicely toasted, add the tomato mixture along with 6 cups of water, the two bullion cubes, and 1 tsp of salt into the pot and stir.  Bring to a boil until the pasta is done.

Once it is finished, taste to see if more salt is needed and then serve with fresh lime and salsa ~ as this soup is designed to the served with these accompaniments, it will not be half as good served alone.

Note: If you find the soup getting too thick for your liking, feel free to add more water, but you may have to add salt accordingly to get to the right flavor.  This especially is a problem after the soup has been in the refrigerator.

Happy Soup-eating!
Kim

Update Jan 12 2012: After consulting my recipe again, I realized that it calls for adding a total of 7 cups of water, rather than the 4 cups I originally listed.  Sorry about that!