Ingredients

Method

In a large heavy based saucepan sweat the onions and garlic in the olive oil until soft but not coloured.

Add the smoked bacon lardons, peppercorns and salt and cook for a further 5 minutes until the bacon starts to colour and the fat is translucent.

Wash and quarter the tomatoes, and add to the saucepan with the chicken stock, simmer for 20 minutes.

Strain through a fine sieve, pressing down hard to extract all the flavour and juices. Cool in the refrigerator .

Clarification Process

Roughly chop all the ingredients for the clarification process, put into a food processor and blend.

Pour into the cold tomato and chicken stock and whisk well

Bring up to the boil gently (don’t allow it to boil) and simmer it gently for 15 minutes

At this point it should be golden in colour and crystal clear.

Very very carefully, with the ladle, make a small hole in the top of the crust and ladle the consommé out from under the clarification crust, through a muslin cloth into a clean saucepan. It is now ready to serve.