AJIACO (VEGETARIAN)

Ingredients

Ajiaco

• 2 red potatoes
• 2 waxy golden potatoes
• 12 papa criollas (Andean potatoes), or substitute fingerling potatoes instead
• 2 big carrots, peeled and cubed
• 1 serrano chili pepper, sliced (optional)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 2 heaping tablespoons of guascas
• 2 ears of corn, cut into 4 pieces crosswise
• 2 scallions, chopped

Garnishes (Not all mandatory.. choose what you'd like)

• 1 avocado, cut into slices
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
• ¼ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
• Modified Salsa Verde (1/2 diced onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 handful of parsley finely chopped, 2 tablespoons white vinegar, and 1 tablespoon olive oil)

How to Make

Stage 1

1. Take a large stockpot over medium heat and add your red potatoes, golden potatoes, fingerling potatoes, carrots, garlic, onion, and chili pepper into the pot.
2. Mix around for 5 minutes to warm the vegetables up and enliven the flavors, occasionally adding your tablespoons of olive oil
3. After 5 minutes, add your 6 cups of vegetable broth to the soup, ideally submerging all the ingredients into the broth. Bring the entire broth to a boil before lowering the heat to a medium-low setting. Let the soup simmer for roughly 20 minutes
4. At the 20 minute mark, start to push some of the potatoes against the edges of the stockpot in order to break them up. This will thicken the soup
5. After mashing some potatoes, add your guascas and stir thoroughly into the soup. Continue to let the soup simmer for another 20 minutes
6. After 20 minutes (and 20 minutes total of simmering), add your ears of corn and scallions. Mash up a few more potatoes if you can, and let the entire ajiaco simmer for another 15 minutes

Stage 2

1. As the soup simmers in the final 15 minutes, begin to prepare your garnishes. If making the modified salsa verde, prepare that first in order to let the flavors mix together
2. After the garnishes are ready and the soup is done simmering, take off heat and serve