Sopa Paraguaya

We had a fun "Paraguay" night with Scott's sister Allison's family and ours (both of them served missions in Paraguay) and Allison brought this recipe for Sopa Paraguaya. Scott said it was the best sopa he's ever had. It's a lot like cornbread, only less sweet with onions and cheese inside. It's a good one to add to our Paraguay collection. Thanks for sharing, Allison! Enjoy!

The original recipe calls for THREE ONIONS! Wow! But Allison said she only used 1 1/2 onions. I am a wimp, so I would probably use just one small onion, so that's how I will notate it here. You can see the original recipe here: https://camilamade.com/sopa-paraguaya/?fbclid=IwAR1iCHXtF3XLIk4Rh3mLwGnWMklY-IVGN0UhpwwxJpHl1eeVmlRF4QEHvTo#recipe

Sopa Paraguaya

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter melted and cooled.
• 500 gr. Queso Panela or Queso de Freir (Mexican cheese) , crumble into small pieces.
• 2 cups whole milk , room temperature
• 5 large eggs , room temperature
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 400 g Quaker yellow cornmeal

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 13'' by 9'' Baking dish and dust with cornmeal; set aside. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter.
• Add the chopped onions and salt, and cook until soft and transparent, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, add half of the milk, and set aside to cool off.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Add the cooked onion mixture, cornmeal, anise seeds, and the remaining milk and whisk until well combined. Stir in the Cheese. (Don't be tempted to add more cornmeal; the mixture will look a little runny, but that's okay—one of the keys to keeping it from getting dense is keeping it that way).
• Transfer the Sopa Paraguaya batter to the prepared baking dish. Bake until golden brown, about 50 to 60 minutes, or a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the Sopa Paraguaya for 10 to 15 minutes in the pan, then cut into squares and serve warm.

Marsha's notes:

Searching on the internet, 400 g yellow cornmeal is approximately 1 and 2/3 cups (I will try to remember to use my kitchen scale when I make this to verify) and 500 gr. Queso Panela or Queso de Freir is about 2 and 1/8 cups.