Countries › Ecuador › Fanesca - Ecuadorian Easter soup with salted cod and beans

Fanesca - Ecuadorian Easter soup with salted cod and beans

Super soup made with bacalao or salted cod, squash, fava beans, chochos, corn, peas, fresh beans, rice, onions, garlic, cumin, achiote, peanuts, milk, cream and cheese.

Recipe from laylita ↗

120 min

Prep

120 min

Cook

20

Serves

Ingredients

Other

bacalao seco or dried salt cod2 lbs

of diced sambo or fresh squash (zucchini, about 2 ½ lbs)6 cups

of diced zapallo or squash (about a small sized squash butternut squash or a large kabocha squash)6 cups

of shredded cabbage2 cups

of cooked and peeled fava beans4 cups

of cooked corn kernels4 cups

of cooked green peas3 cups

of cooked lima beans2 cups

of cooked alubias or cannellini beans2 cups

of chochos or lupini beans (peeled)2 cups

of rice (cooked) (- cooked in abundant water and very tender)2 cups

tbs butter8 pieces

of achiote or annatto powder1 tsp

of diced white onion1 cup

of diced red onion1 cup

garlic cloves (crushed)10 pieces

tbs of ground cumin1 pieces

tbs of dry oregano1 pieces

of ground pepper1 tsp

of roasted peanuts2 cups

10-12 cups of milk (you can also use less milk and replace it with the broth where the veggies were cooked for a lighter version)1 pieces

of heavy cream1 cup

8-12 oz of cream cheese (adjust to taste)1 pieces

of crumbled queso fresco (can use feta cheese as a replacement)1 cup

½ bunch of cilantro or parsley (finely chopped, about 6 tablespoons)1 pieces

Salt to taste1 pieces

Garbanzos or chickpeas1 pieces

Hardboiled egg slices1 pieces

Fried ripe plantains1 pieces

Empanadas de viento or Ecuadorian fried cheese empanadas1 pieces

Hot peppers slices1 pieces

Aji criollo hot sauce1 pieces

Curtido de cebolla blanca or white onions marinated in lime juice1 pieces

Queso fresco or fresh cheese slices1 pieces

Avocado slices1 pieces

Method

Soak the salt cod in water for 24 hours (or even up to 48 hours if you want a very mild salt cod flavor), changing the water every 6-8 hours. Each time the water should be less and less salty, at the end cut the cod into medium sized pieces (if it doesn’t come already cut).

Cook the diced butternut squash (or kabocha) and fresh squash/zucchini separately, with a just enough water to cover them, cook until they are very tender. Save the water from cooking the squash and other veggies if you would like to use it (in place or in addition to the milk in the recipe)

Boil the shredded cabbage with a small amount of water for about 3 minutes.

In a food processor or blender, add the cooked squashes, the cooked rice, and the cooked cabbage. Blend until you have a thick puree, you can add some of veggie broth or water from cooking them, if it’s very thick.

In a sauce pan, bring 6 cups of milk to boil, add the pieces of soaked and desalted cod, and cook on a low/medium boil for about 8-10 minutes.

Blend the roasted peanuts with 2 cups of milk, save until ready to add to the soup.

To begin cooking the soup, in a large stock pot or soup pot, heat the butter over medium heat to make a refrito or base for the soup. Add the onions, garlic, achiote, cumin, oregano and pepper and cook until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the squash, rice and cabbage puree and mix well.

Add 2 to 4 cups of milk and mix well.

Add the fava beans, corn, green peas, lima beans and cannellini beans (and any of the other optional ingredients: cooked lentils, garbanzos, mellocos, etc)

Mix well and let simmer for about 15 minutes, stir frequently to avoid the ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Add the milk where you cooked the cod to soup. You can also add all the cod, lightly shredded (for a full flavor cod fanesca) or just a small amount for a more mild fanesca. If just adding a little bit of the cod, save the rest for later, then sauté it and serve a little with each bowl of soup.

At this point you want to taste the soup and add salt if needed, how much you need will depend on the whether you add the salt cod to the soup or not (as well as how well you soaked and rinsed the cod). Keep in mind that you will be adding queso fresco (or feta) at the end so don’t oversalt the soup.

Add the blended milk and peanut mix to the fanesca soup, cook for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

About 5 to 10 minutes before serving, add the chochos or lupini beans, the cream and the cheeses, stir to help the cheeses dissolve.

Add the chopped cilantro or parsley and stir well. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if needed.

Serve the fanesca with the shredded or small pieces of fried salt cod (unless they were already added to the soup), hardboiled egg slices, lime marinated white onions, fried ripe plantains, slices of queso fresco, fried cheese empanadas, avocado slices or cubes, and Ecuadorian hot sauce or slices of hot peppers. These can be added on top of the soup or on the side.