Provence Tomato Soup Recipes

PROVENCAL TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a wide, heavy-bottomed pan. Add the onion and cook for a minute. Turn the heat to medium, add the bay leaves and sweat the onion until it starts to soften, about 8 minutes. It shouldn't color, so stir from time to time to prevent it sticking and burning.
• Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the cayenne pepper, sugar and cook for a minute, then add the tomatoes and garlic. Cook, stirring until the tomatoes take on an orangey hue and have reduced a little.
• Add the pearl barley, Parmesan rind, if using, and the stock, plus salt to taste. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat and cover. Cook until the barley is tender enough to smash with a spoon against the side of the pan, about 40 minutes. If substituting Arborio rice, it will take about half the amount of time to cook.
• Let the soup sit for a few minutes. Remove the bay leaves and blend thoroughly, in batches, using either a wand blender or a freestanding one. Return to the pot, check the seasoning and add a grind or two of black pepper. Serve as is or with a few torn basil leaves or a little pesto stirred into it.

PROVENçAL TOMATO AND BASIL SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about five minutes. Stir in half the garlic and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, basil sprigs or leaves and remaining garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have cooked down and smell fragrant, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Add the water, Parmesan rind and salt to taste. Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer 15 minutes. Add the tapioca or rice, and simmer for another 15 minutes until the tapioca is tender and the soup fragrant. Remove the basil sprigs and Parmesan rind. Puree in a blender in small batches, taking care to place a towel over the top of the blender and hold it down tightly. If you used fresh unpeeled tomatoes and want a silkier soup, put through a strainer, using a spatula or the back of a ladle to push the soup through. Return to the pot, add pepper to taste and adjust salt. Serve garnished with garlic croutons and/or Parmesan, if desired, and slivered basil leaves. If serving cold, refrigerate until chilled.

PROVENCAL VEGETABLE SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot, add the onions, and saute over low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add the leeks, potatoes, carrots, salt, and pepper and saute over medium heat for another 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and saffron, bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender. Add the haricots verts and spaghetti, bring to a simmer, and cook for 15 more minutes.
• To serve, whisk 1/4 cup of the pistou into the hot soup, then season to taste. Depending on the saltiness of your chicken stock, you may need to add up to another tablespoon of salt. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and more pistou.
• Pistou:
• 4 large garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 24 large basil leaves
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• Place the garlic, tomato paste, basil, and Parmesan in the bowl of a food processor and puree. With the motor running, slowly pour the olive oil down the feed tube to make a paste. Pack into a container, pour a film of olive oil on top, and close the lid.
• Yield: 1 cup

PROVENCE TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in pot on medium heat and clarify the onions.
• Put in the rest of ingredients, stir and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Remove parmesan rind and bay leaf.
• Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

PROVENCAL TOMATO RICE SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute onions, carrot, celery, garlic, orange zest, thyme and fennel seed for 5 minutes, until the vegetables start to become tender.
• Add tomato paste and water, whisking until the tomato paste is fully incorporated.
• Stir in the canned tomatoes, chicken stock, salt, pepper, sugar and rice. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender.
• Stir in parsley and basil.
• Serve hot.

PROVENCAL VEGETABLE SOUP

Steps:

• To make the pistou: mix in the food processor the 1st 3 pistou ingredients until smooth, adding the extra virgin oil last.
• To make the soup: if using dried haricot beans,place in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a hard boil for 10 mins and drain. Place the par-boiled beans, or fresh beans if using, in a saucepan with the herbes de Provence and one of the garlic cloves. Add water to cover by 2.5 cm./1in. Boil, reduce heat and simmer over a medium low heat until tender, about 20 minuters for fresh breans and about 1 hour for dried beans. Set aside in the cooking liquid.
• In a large saucepan or flameproof casserole heat the oil. Add onion and leeks, cook for 5 minutes, stir occasionally, until onion softens.
• Add celery, carrots and the other garlic clove and cook, covered for 10 minutes, stirring.
• Add potatoes, French beans and water, then season lighlty with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, skim any foam that rises to the surface, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add courgettes, tomatoes and peas together with the reserved beans and their cooking liquid and simmer for 25-30mins, or until all the vegetables are tender. Add the spinach and simmer for 5 minutes. Season the soup and swirl a spoonful of pistou into each bowl. Garnish with basil and serve.

SUNNY PROVENCAL TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Peel and thinly slice the onions. Peel the tomatoes by plunging into boiling water for 2 minutes to loosen the skins, remove the seeds and chop roughly.
• Put the onions and oil in a large pan and fry lightly over a low heat until the onions are transparent. Add the tomatoes, garlic and herbs.
• Leave to simmer gently for 15 minutes and then add the measured water. Increase the heat and continue cooking for a further 10 minutes.
• Remove the herbs and garlic and mash the tomatoes with a fork or potato masher. Season only with salt.
• Serve hot with grated cheese or, if you prefer, a slice of toasted, crusty bread. Good with a rose or pinot grigio.

PROVENCAL TOMATO SOUP WITH RICE

Steps:

• 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.