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Tomato Puree with Macaroni
1 can tomatoes; 1 pint beef stock; 1 cup boiled macaroni; 1 stick chopped celery; 1 sprig parsley; 1 teasponful sugar; 1/2 teaspoonful salt; 1/2 saltspoon pepper; 1 blade mace; 1 bay leaf; 1 tablespoonful each chopped onion, butter, and flour cooked together.
Cook the tomatoes, parsley, celery, and seasoning slowly together for an hour. Strain through a coarse sieve or colander, then add the cooked flour and butter, and the stock. Stir all together until thoroughly blended. Cut the macaroni in inch pieces and add; let it simmer a few minutes and serve. The macaroni may be omitted and croutons served with the puree.
A straightforward tomato soup thickened with a roux and given body with beef stock. The measurements are period shorthand but all translate cleanly.
- The can of tomatoesPeriod can sizes varied, and the book does not specify one; a modern 28 oz can is a reasonable stand-in. Whole peeled tomatoes with their juice work best, since the mixture is sieved anyway.
- SaltspoonA saltspoon is a quarter teaspoon. Half a saltspoon of pepper is about an eighth of a teaspoon, which is light for a quart of soup; season again at the end.
- Blade of maceMace is the outer covering of the nutmeg, and a blade is one dried piece of it. If you have only ground mace, use a scant eighth teaspoon and remember it will not be strained out.
- The cooked butter and flourThis is a roux made in advance: cook the tablespoon of chopped onion in the butter until soft, stir in the flour, and cook a minute or two without letting it colour. Whisk it into the hot strained tomato so it does not lump.
- The hour of slow cookingAn hour at a bare simmer is genuine, not padding; it softens the celery and tomato enough to push through a colander. Keep the heat low, since a scorched tomato base cannot be rescued.
- StrainingA coarse sieve or colander leaves some pulp behind, which is the point; this is a puree, not a consomme. Discard the bay leaf, mace blade and parsley stems before pressing.
- The macaroniCut into inch lengths and added only at the end, it should heat through in two or three minutes. Boiling it in the soup instead will cloud and thicken the puree with released starch.
- YieldRoughly a quart to a quart and a half. The recipe offers croutons as an alternative if the macaroni is omitted.