Recuerdos of my abuela always come flooding back whenever I taste a delicious bowl of sopa de fideos. I did not have an easy relationship with her, it was conflicted and felt difficult at times, but I knew then, what I know now, that my abuela loved me very much because she served that love up to me in endless bowls of her delicious sopas. The woman was an artist and her medium was soup. No one has ever come close to making soups as delicious as my abuela's. For some reason of all her many wonderful soups, my very favorite was always her simplest: sopa de fideos.
Chicken noodle soup has NOTHING on my abuela's sopa de fideos. It doesn't just scream comfort when I'm sick, it sings to me in the Spanish of my youth, it caresses my hair with its steamy goodness and assures me that everything is going to be all right. That's why I feel compelled to share a sopa de fideos recipe with you because everyone should know how to make something that is so simple and good.
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This is how I make my version of my abuela's sopa de fideos, it's not exactly the same as hers, she used bouillon cubes instead of chicken broth, but it's my tribute to abuela.
Sopa de Fideos/Mexican Noodle Soup
Ingredients
4 chopped tomatoes
1 small onion
1 chopped garlic clove
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 package of fideo pasta (about a 7 ounce package will do)
3 (14.5 ounce) cans of chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Lime or lemon wedges for garnish
Directions
Put the tomatoes, onion and garlic in a blender and blend until smooth.
Place two tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium to low heat, add the fideo and brown evenly. To do this you are going to have to keep stirring the fideo. Do not walk away, do not leave it unattended. It will take about 3 to 5 minutes and when the fideos are a light brown, they are done being browned.
Add the tomato mixture to the saucepan and enjoy the sizzle it makes. Stir in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and cook until the noodles are tender (about 8 minutes). Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 10 minutes. Some people prefer to cook longer and keep adding liquid as the needed, that's your call. It's done when you say it is.
Serve in a bowl and have lime wedges or lemon wedges available so that people can squeeze them in their bowl if they like. I love this soup with a squeeze of lemon or lime.
Image via Thinkstock
