What to use instead of a food mill?

[lonetree1353]

Just making the Barefoot Contessa's Roasted Tomato Basil Soup and wondered what I can use instead of a food mill. Would a blender work? The soup is passed through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade at the end. TIA

[SueK]

When I made this, I did not yet own an immersion blender, which I have now, and would use for this. But when I did make it, I put small batches into the food processor and pulsed a few times to make it less chunky. It worked great, too. I didn't want it too pureed, so just pulsing each batch 3 or 4 times worked fine.

[lonetree1353]

Thanks Sue. I did wonder about the texture if I put it in the blender.

[SueK]

I would think your blender would work okay if you just put batches through for a second or two. Otherwise, it would be too smooth - one of the best parts of this to me was the chunks of roasted tomato.

And now that I read your original post I see that I completely overlooked your original question. :)

[lonetree1353]

I had a Braun immersion blender from years ago and hadn't used it in ages so gave it away. :( Gee, guess I will have to look into getting a new one. What kind did you get Sue? One thing I didn't like about the Braun was not being able to get it completely clean between the openings in the bottom.

[SueK]

My DH got me a CuisineArt one for Christmas. Honestly, I have not used it much since then,but I like it so far. It hasn't been too difficult to clean.

Do you have a food processor? I have a KA and I used it for this soup, and it worked fine. I don't have the largest version, though, so had to do several small batches to puree the entire recipe.

[lonetree1353]

Just finished the soup and both DH and I thought this was really good. I ended up using my potato masher to break up the tomatoes. The odd chunk didn't bother us (it added texture ;) )

[Anne]

I don't know that particular recipe but I bet you could also hand smush the tomatoes through a seive or collander.

[lonetree1353]

Anne here is the recipe and thanks for that suggestion. I will try that next time. Using the potato masher worked well though.



* Exported from MasterCook *

Roasted-tomato Basil Soup

Recipe By :Ina Garten
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 pounds plum tomatoes -- cut in half lengthwise
1/4 cup olive oil -- plus 2 tablespoons good
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups yellow onions -- chopped (2 onions)
6 garlic cloves -- minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes -- crushed
28 ounces plum tomatoes -- canned with their juice
4 cups fresh basil leaves -- packed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 quart chicken stock -- or water

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in one layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.


In an 8-quart stockpot on medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. Taste the seasonings. Serve hot or cold.

Serves 6 to 8.

Source:
"Barefoot Contessa Cookbook page 84"
Copyright:
"1999"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 169 Calories; 11g Fat (54.4% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 8mg Cholesterol; 1803mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 3 Vegetable; 2 Fat.

NOTES : I serve this soup hot with a chiffonade of fresh basil leaves or cold with a dollop of creme fraiche.

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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