Thomasina Miers shares a Mexican-inspired spring soup and black bean quesadilla recipe, celebrating the country's love of broths and seasonal greens. The soup uses tomatillo salsa for acidity and a mix of soft herbs to capture the breadth of flavour, while the quesadilla combines three cheeses with black beans for a comforting accompaniment.
For the soup, melt 50g butter and sauté two sliced onions and half a finely chopped fennel bulb for about 10 minutes. Add finely chopped coriander stalks, 500g diced floury potatoes, 2 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp allspice, salt and pepper, then sweat for five minutes. Stir in 300g tomatillo salsa and 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock, simmer for 20 minutes.
Toast 60g pumpkin seeds in a small pan until they pop, then grind two-thirds and chop the rest. Add 500g baby leaf spinach (or nettles/chard) to the soup with most of the coriander leaves and a handful of chopped tarragon or dill, simmer for 3-4 minutes. Stir in ground pumpkin seeds and 250ml double cream, blitz with a stick blender, add lime juice and adjust seasoning. Serve with soured cream, reserved herbs and chopped pumpkin seeds.
For the quesadillas, melt 45g butter and sauté one chopped onion, two garlic cloves, 1 tsp thyme and optional chipotles en adobo for 20 minutes. Add 600g cooked black beans, ½ tsp ground fennel and 250ml water, cook for 10 minutes. Blitz a cup of beans and stir back in. Mix 250g grated mozzarella, 250g grated cheddar and 100g crumbled feta with optional herbs. Spoon beans and cheese onto tortillas, fold into half-moons and dry-fry until toasted.
