Sopa De Calabaza Y Elote Recipe By Chef Joe Raffa

Ingredients

• Soup1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 small white onion, coarsely chopped (about ¾ cup)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 5 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1½ cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 2 ears of corn)
• 3 yellow summer squash, coarsely chopped (about 2 pounds)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup chopped summer squash vines
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 2 tablespoons store-bought chile oil
• 1 tablespoon crema or sour cream
• Cilantro leaves

Optional Ingredients

• Garnish 4 squash blossoms (optional)

Directions

1. Make the soup: Heat the vegetable oil in a large stockpot set over medium-low heat, then sweat the onion and garlic together until they are extremely soft but not browned, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are bright orange and have started to dry out, about 7 minutes. Add the stock, corn and squash and bring the soup to a boil. Cook until the squash begins to soften, about 10 minutes, then remove the soup from the heat and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
2. Transfer the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Return to the pot, season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm.
3. Make the garnish: In a large pot, bring salted water to boil. Blanch the squash blossoms, if using, and summer squash vines for 1 minute. Transfer the blossom and vines to ice water, shock and drain. Pour the soup into each bowl and garnish with the blossoms, vines and tomatoes. Drizzle with chile oil and a bit of crema. Garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.