Stopping by a favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican market, the mountain of in-season tomatillos inspired me to make Pozole Verde with Pumpkin Seed Mole. Pozole is a traditional Mexican soup made with chewy hominy (puffed corn). The broth can either be red or green. The red variety is made with dried red chilies, and the green (verde) is made with tomatillos and green chilies. I have combined the best aspects of a few recipes to create a delicious vegetarian version: roasting veg instead of blanching, and taking it to the next level by enriching the broth with a green pumpkin seed mole. Compared to the famous black mole made with cocoa and roasted red chilies, this green mole is made with ground pumpkin seeds, roasted tomatillos and green chilies. The green mole is so delicious on its own that it could be used in many other dishes. I think it would be lovely over roasted cauliflower.
We choose to use canned hominy for pozole because dried hominy can take hours & hours to cook through. Several years ago, my family made pozole for Christmas dinner and the beautiful, dried hominy refused to cook all the way after countless hours on the stove. We ate so late that night!
Note that I’m a cilantro-phobe, so there’s no cilantro in this recipe. Go ahead and add it if that traditional ingredient will bring you joy. Also note that the soup itself is vegan, and the garnishes can be entirely vegan if you use vegan feta instead of other cheeses.
Ingredients
- 25 ounce can of hominy, drained
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, diced
- 1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano
- 5 cups veg broth or water
- salt
- 3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1 pound tomatillos, papery husks removed
- 7 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 poblano chilies
- 2 jalapeno or serrano chilies
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
For the Garnishes
- tortilla strips or chips
- lime wedges
- toasted pepitas
- toasted oregano
- avocado
- queso fresco or cotija (or make it plant-based with vegan feta)
