Authentic Tortilla Soup

My son loves this recipe and I like to make it just to see how he enjoys it (I love it too so it's not a sacrifice at all). It transports me to beautiful Mexico full of color and cheerful music and people. The great news is that almost everywhere is very easy to find a latin store to get everything you need.

1 pound of Peruvian beans

2 pounds of corn tortillas

300 grams of tomato sauce

1/4 medium white onion

10 branches of fresh cilantro

Oil to fry the tortillas plus a little more

Complements:

Sour cream

Fresh cheese (My favorite kind is Panela cheese)

Avocado

Mulatto chilli pepper or chile ancho

Wash your beans and put them in an pressure cooker with enough water to cover them, the onion and 2 tablespoons of oil. Close it and let it cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

This kind of beans are perfect for this recipe because they are so creamy and flavorful.

Put 4 cups of beans with water (the broth the beans have) in a blender, add the cilantro and blend. You'll notice this turns very green for the cilantro but it will change color when you blend more beans and mix everything in the next step.

*Do this when the beans are not too hot or your blender will explode.

Pour your blended mix in a hot pot with a tablespoon of oil. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and your tomato sauce. Mix very well and boil for 8 minutes.

The smell will have everybody at the kitchen by this time.

You can do this while your bean mix is ready. Put oil in a pan and let it warm up for some minutes.

Cut the tortillas in thin long pieces and put them little by little in the hot oil. Let them fry until they get gold and crunchy. Drain them to get rid of the excess oil.

Every authentic tortilla soup must have this complements:

Cut your chili pepper in thin slices and fry them with 1 teaspoon of oil. We just want them to be crunchy so don't overcook them.

Cut your cheese in little squares and your avocado in thick slices.

Put the bean mix first, then a handful of fried tortilla, sour cream, cheese, avocado and the chili pepper on top. Enjoy while it's still hot!