Purée de Tomates, otherwise Portugaise

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4 to 5-quart heavy saucepan
• •Small saucepan for the garnish
• •Sturdy fine-mesh sieve or food mill with a fine disc
• •Flexible bowl scraper or rounded ladle
• •Balloon whisk

Instructions

1. 1

   Press the tomatoes

   Halve the eight tomatoes across their equators and squeeze them gently to expel the loose, watery seed pockets without wringing the flesh dry. Cut them into pieces about the size of a garlic clove. Have the peeled tomato dice ready for the garnish, but keep it separate from the soup tomatoes.

2. 2

   Fry the mirepoix

   Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the Mirepoix (No. 228) and fry it for 7 to 9 minutes, stirring often, until the bacon has rendered, the vegetables are tender, and their edges show a little gold. Do not take it to a dark brown fond; the finished soup should remain clear coral-red, not muddy.

   If the vegetables begin coloring before they soften, lower the heat and add a tablespoon of the measured consommé. Let it evaporate, then continue gently.
3. 3

   Simmer the purée

   Add the pressed tomatoes, sugar, and 6 tablespoons of unrinsed rice. Pour in 2⅓ cups (560 ml / 560 g) of the consommé and bring it just to a simmer, scraping the pan floor clean. Cover slightly ajar and cook gently for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring across the bottom every few minutes, until the tomatoes have collapsed and the rice crushes without resistance. The rice must become completely tender because it is the liaison. If it catches, do not scrape the scorched floor. Ça se rattrape: pour the unburned soup into a clean saucepan, add ½ cup of reserved consommé, and continue at lower heat.

4. 4

   Prepare the garnish

   While the soup simmers, poach the garnish rice in a small pan of gently boiling salted water until tender but still intact, about 12 minutes. Drain it thoroughly and spread it on a plate so the grains remain separate. Melt the teaspoon of butter in the empty pan, add the peeled tomato dice, and toss briskly for 20 to 30 seconds, just until glossy and warmed without losing its shape. Keep the rice and tomato separate.

5. 5

   Sieve and adjust

   Rub the soup through a sturdy fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing the soft rice and tomato pulp through with a ladle or flexible scraper. Stop when only dry skin, seeds, and coarse aromatic fibers remain. If the purée is too thick to pass, loosen it with a ladle of reserved consommé rather than forcing the debris through. Return the smooth purée to gentle heat and add enough remaining consommé to make just under 2 quarts, or until it pours from the ladle in a broad ribbon and lightly coats a spoon. Taste and add salt only if the bacon and consommé have not supplied enough.

6. 6

   Mount with butter

   Bring the adjusted purée to one lazy bubble, then take the pan completely off the heat and wait until all bubbling stops. Whisk in the 4 tablespoons of cold butter one cube at a time, allowing each addition to disappear before adding the next. This off-heat mounting is the step that gives Portugaise its gloss, and the soup must not boil afterward. If oily beads appear, stop. Ça se rattrape: whisk 2 tablespoons of cold consommé with one ladle of soup in a clean bowl until smooth, then whisk that emulsion back into the pot away from the heat.

   Cold butter lowers the temperature as it enters and gives the rice starch time to hold the emulsion. Melted butter poured in all at once simply floats.
7. 7

   Garnish and serve

   Divide the separate-grain poached rice and butter-tossed tomato dice among warm soup plates. Ladle the Portugaise around the garnish and serve at once, while the surface remains smooth and butter-bright. À table!

Chef Tips

• •If fresh tomatoes smell of nothing, use good whole canned tomatoes. Weigh out 1.2 kg (2 pounds 10 ounces), drain them lightly, and reserve their juice to replace an equal amount of consommé. The classical pantry solved poor seasons long ago.
• •Use the Mirepoix (No. 228) with fresh or lightly salted breast bacon. Assertively smoked breakfast bacon takes command of the tomatoes when it should be supplying a quiet savory foundation.
• •A fine-mesh sieve is the honest home equivalent of the tammy. A blender alone leaves the skins and seeds in the soup, beats in air, and can turn the clear coral color pale and dull.
• •The source also permits velouté and cream versions, but those are distinct finishes. This purée needs neither flour nor cream; rice gives the body, and cold butter supplies the final richness.
• •Never let the finished soup wait over direct heat. Hold it in a covered pan set over barely warm water, and give it a gentle whisk before serving.

Advance Preparation

• •The soup can be prepared through the sieving and consistency adjustment up to 2 days ahead. Cool it promptly, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat it to one gentle bubble, then mount it with the cold butter immediately before serving.
• •The garnish rice can be poached a day ahead, cooled, and refrigerated. Refresh it briefly in hot water and drain well. Peel, dice, and toss the tomato at the last moment so it keeps its shape and brightness.
• •If reheating already finished soup, use very gentle heat and never boil it. Whisk in a spoonful of cold consommé if the butter gloss has tightened during storage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)