Southwestern Recipes
Pork Pozole Verde
You can't beat this delicious, warming soup for those chilly winter days.
Prep: 20 min | Cook: 2 hr 10 min | Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 pound tomatillos, husked and halved
- 2 poblano chiles, or pasilla chiles, stemmed, quartered, seeds and veins removed
- 2 jalapeño chiles, stemmed, halved, seeds and veins removed
- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 small onions, 1 cut into 6 or 8 chunks and 1 cut into 1/2 inch dice
- 6 cups chicken stock, divided
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons canola oil, or other neutral-flavored oil, divided
- 3 (15 ounce) cans or 2 (25 ounce) cans hominy, drained
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
Instructions
- In a blender, combine tomatillos, poblanos, jalapeños, cilantro, garlic and chunked out onion and pulse to coarsely chop. Add 1 cup of chicken stock and puree.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon of oil. Add tomatillo mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and becomes medium green, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, add salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.
- While the tomatillo mixture is cooking, in a small stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add half the pork and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove browned pork to a plate and set aside. Repeat with remaining pork.
- Add diced onion to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add remaining 5 cups of chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits. Add pork, hominy and oregano and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
- Stir in tomatillo mixture and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the pork is very tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve pozole topped with suggested garnishes.
Notes
Simplify this recipe by using 2 to 3 cups of canned chile verde sauce, which you can find in the Mexican or ethnic section of your supermarket. If you don’t have a poblano or pasilla chiles, you can use ancho chiles as a dry substitute.
To make a Red Pozole, use red chile sauce.
For garnish, add diced or sliced avocado, shredded lettuce or cabbage, chopped onion, chopped cilantro, sliced radishes, lime wedges, and/or tortilla chips.
Per serving: Calories: 390 calories Protein: 28 grams Fat: 17 grams Sodium: 750 milligrams Cholesterol: 75 milligrams Saturated Fat: 4.5 grams Carbohydrates: 30 grams Fiber: 5 grams
Attribution
Recipe and photo used with permission from:
National Pork Board