Recipe | Caldo de Queso

This recipe is courtesy of my mother in law. Caldo de queso a hearty soup made with potatoes and queso fresco. Queso fresco is a fresh cheese (imagine that) with a mild mozzarella-like flavor with a crumbly texture. This recipe makes a large pot.

Ingredients

• 4 russet potatoes
• 1 Roma tomato
• 1/4 onion (white or yellow)
• 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/3 cup white rice
• 32 oz vegetable broth or 2 Tbsp vegetarian chicken powder
• Queso Fresco
• Salt and pepper
• Cilantro

You can substitute the vegetarian broth with chicken broth, stock, or bouillon; beef probably won't work. A 1.5 pound wheel of queso fresco should be plenty for the whole pot.

Steps

1. Fill pot about 2/3 full with broth or bouillon and water, and bring to boil
2. Peel and cut potatoes into cuadritos and boil in broth
3. Finely dice tomato and onion
4. Sauté tomato, onion, and garlic with salt and pepper
5. Put sautéed veggies and rice into boiling broth
6. After boiling a while, lower heat and add cilantro to broth
7. Cut queso fresco into cubes
8. When ready to serve, pour soup into bowl and add queso fresco and salt and pepper to taste

Conclusion

That's enough soup to last you a couple days. The longer the potatoes steep in the broth, the softer they become, a desirable characteristic. The soup is pretty mild, so can consider adding a bit of cayenne powder to taste, or add a jalapeño to the list of sautéed vegetables for the broth.