Sopa de queso

Ingredients

The dumplings

• 300 gmasa harina
• or fresh masa
• 150 gcuajada, crumbled
• or queso fresco
• about 180 ml warm water
• salt

The broth

• 1 litremilk
• 500 mlwater
• or light stock
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 1sweet pepper, chopped
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoonsbutter
• or oil

To season

• half a teaspoon ground achiote
• or a pinch of turmeric
• salt and black pepper
• chopped fresh mint
• or coriander

To serve

• extra crumbled cuajada
• hot from the pot
• with tortillas
• during Lent

Directions

1. Rinse feta first if it is very salty. It should be light rather than thick. Keep the heat moderate and stir it regularly. Use a genuinely heavy based pan for it. Milk curdles if it boils hard or meets acid.
2. Keep it at a gentle simmer rather than a boil. Add the milk after the tomato has cooked down. Cook the tomato in the fat first. Let it break down and lose its rawest acidity. It simply looks slightly grainy rather than smooth.
3. Mix the masa harina with warm water gradually. Add the water a little at a time as you mix. Stop when it comes together as a soft dough. Use warm rather than cold or hot water. Warm water hydrates the masa far better. Cold water gives a crumbly unworkable dough.
4. Let the masa dough rest for ten minutes. Cover it with a damp cloth while it rests. That stops the surface drying out. Work the crumbled cuajada into the masa dough. Crumble the cheese finely rather than coarsely.
5. Work it through evenly with your hands. Season the dough with a little salt. Add salt only if the cheese is mild. Taste a small piece of the dough. Roll the dough into small balls or flat discs. Keep them all the same size and shape. Make them about the size of a walnut. Larger ones do not cook through properly. Keep them small rather than generous.
6. Roll each one until the surface is smooth. Wet your hands slightly to smooth them. Work them firmly rather than too gently. Melt the butter and cook the onion in it. Give it about eight minutes over a moderate heat. Add the sweet pepper along with the onion. Both should soften without browning at all. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook them down. Give them about eight minutes to break down.
7. Stir the achiote into the softened vegetables. Fry it briefly in the fat before liquid goes in. Give it about twenty seconds only. Pour in the water or stock and bring it to a simmer. Let it simmer for about five minutes. Pour the milk in slowly while stirring.
8. Add it gradually rather than all at once. Stir it through as you pour it in. Keep the heat low from this point onward. Never let it come to a rolling boil. Add them one at a time around the pot. They should be covered by the liquid. Simmer them gently for about twenty minutes. They swell and firm up as they cook.
9. Cut one dumpling open to check the centre. It should be soft and hot right through. Shake the pot gently instead of stirring it. Add a little more milk if it goes too thick. It should stay a soup rather than a porridge.
10. Season the broth with salt and black pepper. Taste it carefully near the end of cooking. Milk soups need decisive seasoning to work. Stir chopped mint or coriander in at the end. Add the herb right at the end, off the heat. It should still smell fresh in the bowl.
11. Ladle the soup and dumplings into deep bowls. Lift the dumplings out with a slotted spoon. That keeps them intact rather than broken. Crumble extra cuajada over each bowl. Add it at the last moment before serving. Serve warm tortillas alongside the bowls. Warm them briefly before they go to the table. It keeps two days refrigerated in a covered bowl.

Technique

• Milk curdles if it boils hard or meets acid, and this soup contains tomato. Cook the tomato down in the fat first so it loses its rawest acidity, add water or stock before the milk to dilute it, then pour the milk in slowly, keeping the heat low and never letting it boil. Some graininess can still happen and does not spoil the soup — it is common in home versions.
• Never walk away once the milk is in: milk rises suddenly and boils over without warning, climbing the pan far faster than you expect. It also scorches easily, so use a heavy based pan, keep the heat moderate and stir regularly.
• Masa harina is not the same as cornmeal and cornmeal will not work here. This soup is almost entirely dairy based, with both milk and cheese carrying through it, and is not suitable for dairy-free diets.

Substitutions

• Queso fresco is the closest widely available substitute for cuajada and behaves the same way; feta is a distant but workable one, rinsed first if very salty. Cuajada is a fresh unaged curd cheese that softens and holds its shape rather than melting smoothly, which is exactly what this soup needs.
• Turmeric replaces achiote for the colour, though achiote is the traditional one and gives colour more than flavour. Coriander replaces mint as the finishing herb and both are genuinely used in Nicaragua.

Variations

• Use warm rather than cold water for the masa, add it gradually since brands absorb differently, and rest the dough ten minutes under a damp cloth. Crumble the cheese finely, since large pieces make the dumplings fall apart, and taste the dough before adding salt — cuajada is already salty.
• Keep the dumplings small, about walnut sized: larger ones stay raw and chalky in the centre. Roll each one smooth, since cracks open further as they cook. Lower them into the pot rather than dropping them, and shake the pot gently rather than stirring, since they stay fragile.
• Add the mint or coriander right at the end off the heat, since long cooking destroys its freshness — mint is genuinely traditional here and cuts through the richness of the dairy. Milk soups need decisive seasoning or they taste flat.

History

A Lenten dish of the cattle country of Chontales and Boaco, made where fresh cuajada cheese is produced daily on ranches.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sopa de queso?

Sopa de queso is a soup & stew from Nicaragua: milky broth with corn dough dumplings and cuajada cheese. A Lenten dish of the cattle country of Chontales and Boaco, made where fresh cuajada cheese is produced daily on ranches.

How long does Sopa de queso take to make?

Sopa de queso takes 30 minutes of preparation and 40 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Sopa de queso?

Yes, within limits. Queso fresco is the closest widely available substitute for cuajada and behaves the same way; feta is a distant but workable one, rinsed first if very salty. Cuajada is a fresh unaged curd cheese that softens and holds its shape rather than melting smoothly, which is exactly what this soup needs. Turmeric replaces achiote for the colour, though achiote is the traditional one and gives colour more than flavour. Coriander replaces mint as the finishing herb and both are genuinely used in Nicaragua.

What is the most important thing to get right in Sopa de queso?

Rinse feta first if it is very salty. It should be light rather than thick. Keep the heat moderate and stir it regularly. Use a genuinely heavy based pan for it. Milk curdles if it boils hard or meets acid.