Sopa seca

If you don’t think of it as spaghetti bolognese, or anything Italian and pasta-y that you’re used to, you’re in for a real treat.

Credit: Hardie Grant Books

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

This amazing Peruvian pasta dish has been the most misunderstood item on the Smith & Daughters menu. The staff still beg us to bring it back. It’s totally delicious, spicy and unusual. Make it! See for yourself!

Ingredients

• 60 ml (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing
• 500 g angel hair pasta, broken into 10cm pieces
• 1½ onions, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 4 chipotles in adobo
• 600 g canned whole tomatoes
• 1½ tsp ground coriander
• 1½ tsp dried oregano
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 500 ml (2 cups) vegetable stock
• 400 g canned black beans (or use whatever beans you have)
• handful chopped coriander leaves, to serve

Coriander cashew cream

• 155 g (1 cup) raw cashews, soaked (see Note)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• large handful coriander, stalks and leaves roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt

Soaking time: at least one hour

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Lightly grease a 30 cm x 20 cm ovenproof dish with olive oil.

Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the pasta and fry for 2–3 minutes until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.

Place the onion, garlic, chipotles, tomatoes, ground coriander and oregano in a blender and process until smooth. Transfer the sauce to a pan with the bay leaves and cook over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened.

Stir in the stock, fried pasta and beans, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, breaking up the pasta with a spoon, for about 5 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves, then transfer the mixture to the prepared ovenproof dish and cover loosely with foil. Bake for about 20 minutes, until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

For the cashew cream, rinse and drain the cashews, then place in a blender with the remaining ingredients and 170 ml (⅔ cup) cold water.

Blend on medium speed for a few minutes until smooth. Add a little more water if you prefer a slightly thinner cream.

Serve sopa drizzled with coriander cashew cream and with coriander leaves scattered over the top.

Note

• We use broken cashew pieces which only have to be soaked for 1 hour, but if you can only find whole cashews, soak them for at least 5 hours)

Recipe and image from Smith & Daughters: A Cookbook (that happens to be vegan) by Shannon Martinez & Mo Wyse (Hardie Grant Books, hbk, RRP $48), is available in stores nationally. Read our article on the authors and find more recipes here. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

This amazing Peruvian pasta dish has been the most misunderstood item on the Smith & Daughters menu. The staff still beg us to bring it back. It’s totally delicious, spicy and unusual. Make it! See for yourself!