Picadillo Sopes En Salsa Roja

Picadillo Sopes En Salsa Roja is a plant based fantasy! It’s exactly what every vegan and vegetarian Mexican food aficionado dreams about and I don’t say that lightly. Heck, even meat-eater would lose their yayas over them. So good, I can sing about my picadillo. The perfectly crisp fried sope is dipped in a homemade salsa roja, then filled with refried beans, plant-based picadillo con papas, and topped with queso fresco, and all the other condiments.

I hope you will make these special Picadillo Sopes En Salsa Roja the next time you want a delicious meal. I may have to make them again tomorrow the way my family scarfed them down.

Picadillo:

2 Anaheim chiles
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium sized potatoes (peeled and cubed)
1/2 cup onion (diced small)
1 tomato (cubed)
4 garlic cloves
16 oz. Plant-based ground
2 cups vegetable broth

Salsa Roja:

1 white onion
2.5 oz New Mexico Chile
6 garlic cloves
2.5 oz California Chile
2 Pasilla-Ancho Chiles
Salt (to taste)

Sopes:

1 cup vegetable oil
pre-made sopes (I used Northgate brand)

Toppings:

refried beans
queso fresco
pickled onion
radish
crema
chopped lettuce or cabbage

Directions:

Let’s make salsa roja! Boil onion, New Mexico chile, garlic, California chile, pasilla-ancho chiles, and salt until chiles soften about 35 minutes.
Remove chiles from water and discard stem and (optional seeds).
Place all chile skins, onion, garlic, and 3 cups of boiled chile water to blender. Blend until smooth.
Pour chile sauce mixture through a sieve and into a bowl. Press chile flesh against sieve to squeeze out all the liquid. Discard any seeds and skin collected in sieve. Place to the side until ready to use.

Picadillo:

Char Anaheim chiles on an open flame until completely charred then place an airtight ziplock to steam.
Remove Anaheim chiles from bag and peel with the back of a butter knife to remove any charred skin. Cut into 1/4 inch pieces. Set to the side.
Boil potato cubes for 10 minutes to make slightly fork tender, then drain.
In a large frying pan over a medium heat add oil and allow to get hot. Add in drained potato cubes and season to your liking. Fry until golden crisp all around. About 15 minutes.
Add in onion, tomato cubes, and chopped Anaheim chiles. Allow to sauté for 5 minutes.
Cook plant-based ground in a different pan with a splash of oil. Break it up with the back of the spatula to crumble, then add in garlic and continue cooking. Cook as directed on package (about 5 to 8 minutes)
Pour the crumbled plant based ground to the potato mixture. Mix to combine.
Pour in vegetable broth and simmer for 10 minutes. Set to the side.

Sopes:

Heat a cup of oil in a pan over a medium high heat.
In another pan heat over a low flame heat two cups of salsa roja.
Place a few sopes in the vegetable oil and fry on each side until crisp.
Then remove from oil and dip directly into the salsa roja. Shake off excess sauce and place on a plate to assemble.