Instructions: To Prepare the Tomatoes: Cut in half and broil until lightly browned and tender. Cool and blend into a puree. Mix with the onion and garlic.

Heat a frying pan and add the oil. Add the tomato mixture and fry, stirring continously, then add the chicken broth and simmer 8-10 minutes. Add the epazote at the last minute.

In hot oil, fry the corn tortilla strips until crisp but not dark. Drain them on paper towels. Cut the pasilla chilies into narrow strips and fry quickly until slightly crisp.

Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Add about 6-8 cubes of panela cheese, more if preferred, and 2-4 strips of fried pasilla chilies. Garnish with a fistful of fried tortilla chips, assembling crisscrossed for an interesting presentation. Serve immediately.

Makes about 2 1/2 quarts.

NOTES : This is close to the classic tortilla soup recipe, widely found throughout Mexico. If avocado and chicken are added, it is called Sopa Azteca. Epazote is a pungent herb popular in many Mexican dishes. Pasilla chilies are long, blackish-brown dried chilies. Panela cheese, or queso panela, is a white, semisoft, salty Mexican cheese that is rather mild tasting.

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