Ecuadorian Fanesca

What is it?

This soup is a very popular one in Ecuador and besides being called Spring Soup, it is also a tradition during the Easter week, specially during Lent. This soup is a favorite of Ecuadorians.
It is made with fresh vegetables, available in spring time and has a very rich flavor. It is made with cod, milk, and vegetables.

Recipe

Ingredients:

1onion finally chopped
2 cloves of garlic
½ pound of cod
½ cup of cooked rice (with ½ cup of water and ½ cup of milk) and save the liquid
1 cup cabbage cut in slices
1 cup cooked squash, reserve the cooking water
1 cup cooked zucchini, reserve the cooking water
2 cups full of lima beans, green peas and green beans in equal parts, reserve the cooking water
3 cups of milk
¼ cup of peanuts
½ cup lentils, cooked, reserve the water
1 cup of corn grains, cooked, reserve the water
½ pound of cod
2 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of grated cheese
2 hard boiled eggs cut into slices
Bay leaf, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano

Preparation:

Cod: soak it overnight before using it…change the water often. Cut it into small pieces and put it in a pan with clean water. Boil it for some fifteen or twenty minutes, until the fish is done. Remove the fish but keep the water. In another pan put the oil, onion, garlic and the different flavors. When the onion is transparent, add all the other ingredients, all the cooking waters that were saved apart, last of all add the fish and its cooking water. The peanuts should be passed by the processor with the milk, and so add the mixture also into the pan. Add the cheese, and take the soup to a boil for five minutes. Stir so that it won’t stick into the pan.
Serve very hot. Decorate each portion with slices of egg and you can put some cut leaves of parsley if you wish.