2 cups dried black beans
4 tomatillos
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/2 jalapeno pepper
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 1/2 onions
Soak the beans overnight. When you are ready to cook, drain them. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Peel the dry skin off the tomatillos, cut them in quarters, and toss lightly with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place them in a heavy-bottomed, ovenproof dish just big enough to hold them in a single layer, and roast for 15 minutes in the oven, until they are soft. While they are roasting, pluck the cilantro sprigs off their stems and reserve to garnish the finished soup. Wrap the cilantro stems, the jalapeno pepper, and the garlic in a cheesecloth sack.
Slice the onions very thin; in a soup pot, cook them in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, until they are soft and translucent. Add the drained beans, 3 quarts water, and the cheesecloth sack. Bring the pot to a boil, and then simmer over medium heat, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.
When the tomatillos are done, put them through a food mill or puree them in a blender until smooth. Continue to simmer the beans until they are very tender (1 1/2 to 3 hours). When they are done, remove the cheesecloth bag of seasonings and squeeze the liquid out of it back into the soup. Pass the soup through a food mill or puree it in a blender in small batches until very smooth. It may need to be thinned out a little. Reheat the soup, adding the roasted tomatillo puree to taste, and seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with the reserved sprigs of cilantro.
SERVES 8