Provencal Tomato Soup With Rice               

 tags (edit): Gourmet Magazine Easy @Vogel @Try Soon! Soup  

 

Each spoonful of this French country-style soup delivers the warming taste of sun-ripened tomatoes and luxurious saffron.

Ingredients

2 pounds tomatoes
2 medium onions halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced crosswise (2 cups)
1 medium carrot coarsely grated
1 each celery rib finely chopped
4 large garlic cloves finely chopped
3 each (3- by 1-inch) strips fresh orange zest finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes (scant)
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 each Turkish bay leaf or 1/4 California
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups water
1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (14 fl oz)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 pinch crumbled saffron threads
1 teaspoon Sugar more to taste
1/4 cup long-grain white rice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil


 

Instructions
 Cut a shallow X in bottom of each tomato with a sharp paring knife. Blanch tomatoes in batches of 2 or 3 in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling water 10 seconds, transferring with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking.

Peel tomatoes, then halve crosswise. Squeeze halves gently, cut sides down, over a sieve set over a bowl to extract seeds and juices, then press on seeds and discard them. Reserve juice and tomatoes.

Cook onions, carrot, celery, garlic, zest, thyme, red-pepper flakes, fennel seeds, and bay leaf in oil in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes with reserved juice, tomato paste, water, chicken broth, salt, pepper, saffron, and 1 teaspoon sugar, then simmer, uncovered, stirring and breaking up tomatoes with a spoon occasionally, 20 minutes. Stir in rice and simmer, uncovered, until rice is tender, 10 to 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf and stir in parsley, basil, and sugar and salt to taste.


This recipe published with BigOven, and can be imported instantly by BigOven users viewing this page. Download your free trial at www.bigoven.com.


Yields: 4 Servings
     Gourmet magazine, September 2006, page 139

 notes:  As the other reviewer pointed out, go easy on the orange peel. Just one or two short zest peels (about an 1.5 inches long) is sufficient. It's important to use hot chiles, because it really enhances the sweetness of the tomatoes. The next step is to use brown rice with this one. Haven't done it yet, but will probably use much less brown rice than white.

Very good tomato soup. Very refreshing and unorthodox. I used fresh chillies (about half) with great results, but could use some more. It's best when fresh -- the rice soaks too much liquid, so making this a day in advance is probably not a good idea.

Cuisine:   French

Main Ingredient: