Soup of the Week – Corn Soup with Roasted Corn Guacamole

I am happy once again to give you a Soup of the Week that has come from a dear reader – thanks to Sarah at Amycake and the Dude for this week’s recipe.

We actually tried this about two weeks ago and then I got distracted by the two batches of homemade chicken noodle soup in a row that we made to fight the Hub’s flu bug. That stuff was perfect. Perfect.

But this corn soup was really different.Since fresh corn is not in season, we opted for the frozen corn roasted in the oven method. It worked just fine – and on another night, roasted corn in the oven is a great variation for a weeknight side dish.

Here’s what you need…

Roasted Corn Guacamole

• Kernels from 3 ears fresh corn, or 2 cups frozen corn, defrosted (we did the frozen)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped (an appropriate substitution of dried will work, too, if fresh is not available)
• 1 lime, finely grated zest and juice
• 1 jalapeño, stemmed and seeded, finely chopped (we only used a half to keep the heat down for Kidzilla)
• 1 avocado, pitted and chopped

Soup

• Kernels from 5 ears fresh corn, or 3 cups frozen corn, defrosted
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeño, stemmed and chopped (here we used the remaining half of the jalapeño from above)
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (pretty sure we used vegetable for this – can’t see how it would matter much)
• Cilantro sprigs, to garnish

For the preparation part, I’m giving you the instructions in the order we found them on the original Epicurious post because I think it makes a lot of sense to do things in this order. I actually followed this just as written. Amazing, I know.

Roast the Corn for the Guacamole

• Preheat the oven to 450°F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
• Put the corn kernels on the baking sheet and toss with the oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste. Spread the corn out evenly on the baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes, until the corn turns a golden brown. It may seem that you have left the corn in the oven for too long, but you want the corn to caramelize and get a little crunchy. Remove the corn from the oven and set aside.

Prepare the Corn for the Soup

• Put the kernels (fresh or frozen and defrosted) in a blender.
• Combine the oil and the garlic in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and jalapeño. Season with salt and pepper and sauté until the vegetables are soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to the blender and puree until smooth. (You may need to pulse or stir the corn mixture in order to achieve a smooth consistency, but do not add any more liquid.)

To be totally honest, this section was a major pain. Even with the awesomeness of my Vitamix, it was very difficult to puree the corn and other vegetables without having to keep stopping and mashing them down with the little plunger. My instinct would have been to add a little liquid, but the recipe said not to and I didn’t want to risk ruining the soup. Next time, I would be comfortable adding a little bit of broth to the Vitamix or blender. But most likely, I would skip this step altogether and puree with my immersion blender right in the soup pot instead. That would definitely cut down on both time and mess. Let’s move on…

Simmer the Soup

• Pour the corn puree into the soup pot and place over medium heat. Stir constantly for a few minutes, until the soup begins to thicken. Slowly whisk or stir in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, decrease the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.

Finish the Roasted Corn Guacamole

• In a bowl, combine the roasted corn, red onion, cilantro, lime zest and juice, and jalapeño. Gently stir in the avocado. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve and Garnish

• Ladle the soup into soup bowls. Place a generous spoonful of the guacamole in the center of each bowl. Garnish with a small sprig of cilantro placed in the center of each.

The soup was delicious. Zilla and I just loved it with the guac; the Fab Hub went without because he hates avocado. The night we made it, I had the end of a bag of tortilla chips leftover so we tossed a few of those on top to be fancy. It didn’t work well – the chips just got kind of soggy. I think it was probably the particular chips, though, so perhaps a sturdier chip would work. The citrusy taste of the guac stirred into the soup was really fantastic. This was a great, fresh option – a nice change from heavier wintery soups and stews.  This will be terrific in fresh corn season.

This held up well until leftover night later in the week. For that meal, I found some sharp cheddar cheese to grate over the top. I also snipped a few green onions to sprinkle on and finished off with a bit of chili powder. Also a great way to serve.

Since Zilla and I only used a little bit of the guacamole in our soup and the Hub had none, we had plenty leftover to use as an appetizer the next night and on fish tacos yet another night. I also used some when I had it on leftover night. The guac gets better with age! Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if we doubled the guacamole part of the recipe on purpose – I feel like I might have because I recall having two avocados that needed to be used. Or maybe we added the second avocado before using it on the tacos. Yes, that was it. In any case, if you store your guac properly it will last several days and can give you a nice condiment for other meals. To keep it from turning brown, I press the guac flat with a spatula and then press clear wrap over the top of it and tightly up the sides of the storage bowl before sealing the lid.

Epicurious says this soup recipe feeds four and I’d agree with that – it doesn’t seem like a lot, but it‘s surprisingly filling. If you want to make it a little heartier, serve with tortillas or flatbreads on the side for dipping.

Thanks again to Sarah for the recipe – great suggestion! If you have a great soup recipe to share, send it my way. We love finding new ones to try.

Enjoy!