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Late-Summer Tomato and Tarragon Soup

Summer’s last tomatoes are still coming in! The ones we’re eating mostly come from our favorite market gardener at the local Gambetta market behind the town hall of the 20th district.
But last week when I was hacking away at the tangle of forsythia (and briar) at my country house in Burgundy, the gardener who helps us maintain our jungle of a yard brought me some lovely – and most tasty! – hierloom varieties from his own garden.
This recipe is adapted from one of my very favorite cookbooks, published long ago by British author Geraldene Holt, Recipes from a French Herb Garden. I love fresh herbs almost as much as Holt, and even the dragon-like estragon, or tarragon, couldn’t keep me away from this ultra-fresh late-summer soup.
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Servings: 4 people
Course: Appetizer, Soup
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Ingredients:
  • 2 tablespoons 30 g butter
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • ½ clove garlic finely chopped
  • ½ stick celery finely chopped
  • 1½ pounds 680 g ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • ½ cup 120 ml dry white wine
  • ¾ cup 180 ml well-flavored chicken stock
  • 1 small bay leaf
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
  • a strip of orange peel
  • 1 teaspoon raw sugar
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves chopped
  • To finish:
  • 4 heaping tablespoons crème frâiche or 4 tablespoons heavy cream or more, yum!
  • 4 pretty sprigs of tarragon for decor

Method
 

How to make it:
  1. Melt the butter in a medium soup pot over medium heat, and when the butter begins to foam, add the onion, garlic, and celery. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.
  2. Add the tomatoes, wine, stock, bay leaf, allspice, orange peel, sugar, and salt. Bring to the boil and add half of the tarragon leaves. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 25 minutes.
  3. Carefully remove the bay leaf and orange peel. Using an immersion blender, purée the soup until no solids remain. If you wish, and you’re a little crazy like many professional chefs, pass the soup through a fine-meshed strainer for a restaurant-grade velouté. Serve with a spoonful of crème fraîche (or stir in the heavy cream), garnish with a sprig of tarragon, and serve hot. This soup can also be served chilled. Bon app’!

Notes

serves 3-4 as a starter (¾-cup servings) or 8-9 as an amuse-bouche in tiny cups (⅓-cup servings)