Sopita de arepa is another traditional Colombian soup and one of my favorites. It hits the body and soul. For this recipe you have to use a specific texture of arepas. I use the veggie arepas we make at The Beneficial Bakery ( @thebeneficialbakery ) but you can also use corn arepas that you can find in Latin markets. You cannot use arepas made with masarepa or precooked corn meal. Trust me, I tried, and the soup was not as it should be. This soup is simple, delicious, and easy to make. Enjoy!

Serves 4

7 cups stock (vegetable or chicken )
2 large potatoes peeled and diced
1 cup hogao – see below
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper
3 arepas cut into pieces
½ cup fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped

How to:

In a medium pot place the stock, potatoes, cumin and hogao. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Cook until the potatoes are fork tender. About 25 to 30 minutes.

Add the arepa pieces and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 4 minutes more. Add the fresh cilantro and serve.

Hogao

Hogao is one of the most traditional Colombian seasoning sauces. We use Hogao as a base for many typical Colombian dishes or just as a dipping sauce for plantains, veggies, or as a topping for arepas. I keep it refrigerated for up to 1 week or freeze in ice cube tray for a few months.

I prepare this Hogao the way I can remember my biological mother doing.

Makes 2 cups

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped scallions
1 clove garlic minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
2 cups diced tomato

How to:

Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the tomatoes, scallions, garlic, ground cumin and cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring until softened.

Reduce the heat to low, add the salt and, cook for 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally until the sauce has thickened. Check and adjust the seasoning.

Tomato Soup. A soup I despised as a kid because it was served cold, from the famous can, non-stop at the children’s home I stayed in for a period of time.

Many many years later I went to a restaurant in NYC and had it with a piece of crusty bread (back when I didn’t know gluten was part of the cause to my aches), I fell in love.

This is not that exact soup but it is a really good soup. Straight-down-the-middle, simple, tasting tomato soup with long-cooked flavor, thanks to a generous amount of aromatics and a short but intense cook time under pressure. This is pretty delicious on its own but is the ideal teammate for crusty bread to sop up… like our new Sourdough, or focaccia, or your favorite.

INGREDIENTS

·         ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
·         2 medium onions, chopped
·         1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced (save the fennel tops)
·         2 cups of frozen cauliflower rice
·         2 carrots, grated
·         1 cup frozen butternut squash
·         Sea salt
·         2 tsp. Sweet paprika
·         1 tsp. Cumin seeds, lightly crushed
·         ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
·         3.5 lbs of fresh tomatoes or 2 28-oz. cans organic whole peeled tomatoes (I prefer canned, just being honest)
·         1 cup of water, vegetable stock or bone broth – you pick
·         Freshly ground black pepper
·         3 Tbsp. avocado oil, ghee or grass fed butter
·         1 tsp. (or more) honey
·         Something creamy for topping. Coconut yogurt, Cashew cream, Heavy cream, yogurt, or sour cream (for serving; optional)
·         Flaky sea salt
·         You favorite crusty bread. I used our new Sourdough!

How-to

1. Heat oil in Instant Pot on the Sauté setting. Add onions, carrot and sliced fennel; season with a big pinch of salt (2 teaspoons). Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables start to soften and sweat, about 2 minutes. Add paprika, cumin seeds, cayenne (if using), frozen cauliflower and butternut squash and stir to coat vegetables with spices. Set lid on pot askew and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are very soft but have not taken browned about 10minutes. Add tomatoes, crushing them with your hands as you go, then use 1 cup liquid of choice to rinse out cans and add to pot; season with salt and pepper. Seal lid and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes.

2. Release pressure manually, then uncover and add fat of choice and 1 tsp. honey to soup. Using an immersion blender directly in pot, blend until smooth. (Alternatively, allow soup to cool slightly and purée in small batches in a blender.) Taste and season with salt and pepper; if soup tastes acidic, add more honey, as needed.

3. Divide soup among bowls. Serve with a drizzle of something creamy (if using). Season with sea salt.