Name: Cream of Tomato in the Style of Provence (Velouté de Tomates à la Provençale)
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: For 4 people
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: Crystal salt, freshly ground black pepper, basil, garlic (2 cloves), thyme, sugar (1 Tb); Leek, white part only (1 large, or 2 medium); Cabbage, very small, heart only (1); Beef bouillon (1½ cups); White wine, slightly sweet, say a light regional Sauternes (1 cup); Tomatoes, peeled and seeded (2 lbs.); Bacon, thick-sliced, dark-smoked, fairly fat (about 3 rashers); Yellow onions (2 medium); Rice, raw (⅓ cup)

Preparation info

For
4
people

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
15 min

Appears in

The Auberge of the Flowering Hearth

By Roy Andries De Groot

Published 1973

About

This is no ordinary tomato soup. It is touched with the aromas of smoky bacon and fried salt pork, enriched with the oils of leeks and onions, the fruitiness of a soft white wine, with everything finally enveloped, in the true Provençal style, in an all-pervading mash of garlic. At the end, it is converted into a richly creamy velouté in a unique way—by being thickened with a whipped purée of rice. (See menu and wine suggestions.)