This Pozole Verde literally may be my favorite soup recipe, and I’ve made some good ones over the years. I usually make a white chicken pozole, but this time I went all authentic and used tomatillos, serrano peppers and pork to make this Pozole Verde recipe.
Now you may be thinking that it sounds spicy, but let me be the first to tell you that it’s not. In fact, I don’t even really like spicy food all that much. I like things comfortably spicy, nothing worse than not tasting anything other then your mouth being on fire while you dump milk all over your face.
Before I started making this soup I was a little torn on where to start. Do I put all of the ingredients in a pot and just slow cook it until it’s done? Do I cook things separately then combine them? There is no right way or wrong way, but what I decided to do was to oven roast the tomatillos and serrano peppers. I coated them in olive oil and cooked them at 425° for 20 minutes and then I turned on the broiler and cooked them for a further 4 to 5 minutes to help char. From there I pureed the tomatillos and serrano peppers (minus the seeds), along with some cilantro leaves, pepitas, oregano and cumin until smooth.
I’ve always been a little weirded out when putting raw protein in a slow cooker along with vegetables and just cooking it. Not sure why it bothers me, but it does. I seared the pork shoulder on all sides in a bit of olive oil until it was completely golden brown on every side, and then added it to a cast iron pot with some caramelized onions and garlic. Now because I want to reserve a little flavor for later I only poured half of the verde sauce on the pork and then simmered it in chicken stock for 3 hours until the pork easily shredded apart. Sometimes when slow cooking you can lose flavor over that long period, so to maximize that tomatillo and serrano flavor I waited until the soup was just about done to add in the rest.
There is no pozole without hominy. You may have seen it in a grocery store and wondered just what it was exactly. Simply put it’s corn that is treated in a lye solution and then canned. Don’t worry it’s completely safe to eat, and delicious by the way, just strain and rinse. To finish off the soup with a little more corn flavor I seared up some corn kernels in a little olive oil and mixed it right in! There is a great company here in the Midwest called “Husk” that sells fresh right off the cob frozen sweet corn and it’s a really superior product, you’ll love it!
It’s all about the toppings when it comes to soup so I loaded up this Pozole Verde with thinly sliced radishes, avocado, fresh oregano, pepitas and lemons in case it’s too spicy for you. You’ll for sure make this soup again once you’ve tried it. It is officially a family favorite in my house hold, and because is so comforting to eat and easy to make it’ll be a staple in yours as well.
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