Vermicelli with Mushroom, Roasted Tomato and Two Chiles

When someone makes fideo seco, as this dish is often called in central Mexico, they’re usually thinking about rich creaminess shot through with canned chipotle, maybe some chorizo. The noodles—toasted and simmered in the tomatoey sauce—become the perfect, buoyant vehicle for all that flavor. But don’t think of the “seca” part of the Spanish title as indicating that the dish is dry, as that word would translate into English. Instead, this preparation—which we’d all recognize as looking more-or-less like a typical, not-too-saucy pasta dish—is dry in comparison to the more typical way of serving fideos, which is in a brothy soup. And that soup is one of the most common and comforting family meals in Mexico. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that it’s Mexico’s version of our planet’s restorative chicken soup, except that Mexico loves chicken soup too—of course, served with spoonfuls of raw onion, green chile and cilantro, plus a big squeeze of lime. Mexico simply loves dishes that are soupy. Now, about the toasting of noodles—or the use of noodles at all in Mexican cooking. Though traditional Mexican cooks aren’t known for pasta dishes, the vermicelli-like dried pasta called fideos is a pantry staple. It is in parts of Spain, too (another country with few pasta specialties), where the same fideos are found in a paella-like preparation called fideuá. And in that preparation, they toast the dry pasta in oil, just as they would rice, which brings us all the way to Mexico and its toasted pasta fideo dishes. While I admit that there is something thoroughly craveable about the most traditional fideo seco dish, topped with dollops of crema, grated añejo cheese, crispy chorizo and cubes of avocado, this version gives it a run for its money. Same chipotle-infused sauce enriched with caramelized onions, mushrooms and bits of dark pasilla chile, then strewn with goat cheese, crema and herbs. All that said, crispy chorizo, diced avocado and añejo cheese wouldn’t be at all out of place here, should you want to add them.