Tomatoes
Tomato Potage
This soup couldn’t be easier. It’s a great recipe for your organic tomatoes and it freezes well. Pour into a thermos for a tailgate party, serve as a light supper with egg salad or grilled cheese sandwiches, or serve as a first course. When tomatoes are not in season, substitute frozen or canned tomatoes. Resist the temptation to use flavorless store-bought tomatoes.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1½ cup water
2 pounds ripe tomatoes, quartered
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon herbs de Provence
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and sauté over medium to high heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the flour, mix well, cook for 1 minute, and then add the water. Mix well. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the butter, to the saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and stir well. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.
Strain the mixture, pushing it through a food mill fitted with a small screen. Alternatively emulsify in a food processor or with an immersion blender, and then strain through a conventional strainer, pressing on the solids to retrieve as much of the tomato flesh as possible. (You can omit the straining if you don’t object to small pieces of tomato skins and seeds in your soup.)
Add the butter and mix well with a whisk to incorporate. Serve immediately, or cool, cover, refrigerate and reheat when ready to serve.
Makes 6 cups.
From “Jacques Pepin’s Kitchen: Cooking With Claudine,” by Jacques Pepin, 1996, KQED Books,
San Francisco.