Portuguese Purée (Purée à la Portugaise)

Ingredients

• 50 grams lean lard, cut into small dice
• 1 onion
• 1/2 carrot
• thyme
• bay leaf
• 700 grams tomatoes, pressed and cut into pieces
• 1 small clove garlic, crushed
• 10 grams sugar
• 195 grams rice
• 1 liter consommé (cooking stock)
• 2.5 deciliters consommé, for adjustment
• 200 grams tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons peeled tomatoes, concassé (roughly chopped)
• 2 tablespoons rice, poached in salted water

Instructions

1. Heat butter in a pan and gently cook the mirepoix (a mixture of 50 grams lean lard cut into small dice, 1 onion, 1/2 carrot, fragments of thyme and bay leaf) until softened.
2. Add 700 grams of pressed tomatoes cut into pieces, 1 small crushed garlic clove, 10 grams sugar, 195 grams rice, and 1 liter of consommé.
3. Cook gently until the rice and tomatoes are very tender, then pass the mixture through a fine sieve to create a smooth purée.
4. Adjust the consistency by stirring in 2.5 deciliters of consommé. Finish the purée at the last moment by stirring in 200 grams of tomato paste.
5. Garnish the purée with 2 tablespoons of peeled, concassé tomatoes that have been lightly sautéed in butter, and 2 tablespoons of rice that has been poached in salted water.
6. Note: This dish may also be prepared as a Cream or Velouté variation.