Cream of Tomato Soup

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Makes 10 cups, enough for 10 to 12 first course servings

Selecting the tomatoes is the most important part of this dish. Avoid the mounds of supermarket tomatoes, all the same size and color. Dangerous! Dangerous! Tasteless! Even if you don't have a gardening neighbor, you can often find vine-ripened tomatoes in the store, or look ofr the ones that are all different shapes and colors. Unripened tomatoes should be kept in a sunny window until they ripen. You can use any variety, including Italian plum tomatoes, adjusting the number as necessary to get 11 cups chopped tomatoes.

SEASONING MIX

• 2 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic®
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons (1/2stick) unsalted butter
• 1 1/2cups chopped onions
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 11 cups peeled and chopped very ripe tomatoes (about 16)
• 1 1/2cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl. Bring the cream just to the boiling point in a small saucepan, remove from the heat and set aside.

Melt the butter in a heavy 3-quart pot (do not use cast iron) over high heat. Add the onions and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the seasoning mix and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and the remaining seasoning mix, cover and bring to a rolling boil. Uncover, stir well, and cook hard for about 3 minutes. Stir in the stock and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover, raise the heat to high, and cook for 10 minutes more. Stir in the parsley and remove from the heat. Put the soup into a food processor in 2 batches and process until coarsely puréed but not quite smooth. Pour into a large bowl and stir in the reserved cream.

Copyright © 1995 by Paul Prudhomme

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