Potage Magali: Mediterranean Tomato Soup with Rice

Every year at the end of the season, Doug at the Farmer's Market in the North Grand Mall parking lot brings in big boxes of tomatoes to sell for real cheap. They aren't perfect but they ain't bad. And I just core them, seed them, and run them through the Cuisinart, skins an all, and right straight into three-cup plastic containers from the Dollar Store and then down in the freezer. Unpeeled. It takes almost no time. (See the comment in the introduction to this blog for who cleans up the mess.)

Thawed in mid-winter, this tomato puree is a magic realist window on summer. It smells of August. And made into Julia's Mediterranean soup (MAFC II p. 20), it is August in Nice.

Serves three or four

1/2 cup onions chopped fairly fine
2 garlic cloves pressed or chopped finely
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups tomato puree, canned, fresh or frozen (see above)
1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1/2 cup cooked rice or 2 tablespoons raw rice (or 4 tablespoons couscous)
1 teaspoon herbs de Provence or fresh herbs tied together
salt and pepper to taste
a small pinch of saffron, if you can afford it!

1. Heat a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium heat. Chop the onions and add them with the olive oil, stirring occasionally, for about seven minutes.
2. Chop or press the garlic, and add it after about three minutes.
3. Assemble the rest of the ingredients, and add them to the pot after seven minutes.
4. Turn the heat to high for one minute, then down to simmer. Check seasoning and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
5. Garnish with herbs and serve.