Gazpacho Soup Recipe – using the glorious tomato

Gazpacho soup was invented for the summer. Refreshingly cold on hot summer days, this adaptation of the classic Spanish cold tomato soup deliciously combines the best of summer in season vegetables really showcasing how versatile the glorious tomato really is.

Tomato is a fruit (botanically speaking) that we classify as a vegetable that surprisingly is UK’s favorite homegrown food, (you think it would be a spud or onion but not so)… so we will make sure we make the most of it… First introduced to me by two great friends Tomas and Paula from Catalonia, Spain a gazpacho is an easy versatile soup that is eaten throughout Spain as a celebration to its great food to be made simply by using ingredients whizzed up, strained from skins and seeds, and served chilled with a garnish of basil, crumbled bread crumbs & a dash of olive oil.

Serves: 3-4

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cooking method: food processor, straining.

Ingredients

• 4 ripe average tomatoes
• Handful of ripe cherry tomatoes
• ½ cucumber
• 2 spring onions
• 1 sweat pepper
• 1 pitta bread/freshly made pizza base
• 8 tbsps virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsps of cider vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp of breadcrumbs
• Handful of basil

1. Blend cut up pieces of most of the cucumber, pepper, tomatoes spring onion and seasoning to a rough purée in a food processor, reserving a couple of chunks of each vegetable for a small side salad if desired.
2. Add the garlic, pitta bread or in my case a freshly made wood fired pizza base cut into fine pieces (as I have just founded a pizza street food business), olive oil and vinegar to the food processor. Let the bread soak for 5 mins until soft and blend until smooth.
3. Strain the contents through a sieve. (note plum tomatoes have much less seeds and skins so much easier than with your standard tomato, British money maker for instance)
4. Transfer the soup to a jug, and chill in a freezer for 15 minutes/otherwise you can get a handful of ice cubes (but this will dilute the flavor).
5. Grate the reserved vegetables into strands for a side salad.
6. When ready to serve, pour the gazpacho into fancy cups (I managed to find my mums very best glasses) and garnish with olive oil and a sprinkle of breadcrumbs and a hint of basil.

I must admit us Brits have long been suspicious of chilled soups that seem unnatural somehow; in a climate more suited steamed broths. But just as we’ve taken tapas to our hearts along with many other foreign meals, we’ve come to see the fresh virtues of a cool soup in our occasional warm spells, something I just couldn’t live without during a summer tomato glut.

Give it a go and let us know how you have found growing your own fresh vegetables and experimenting with them.

Tips:

– If you do buy shop bought tomatoes let them ripen to a deep red color that’s completely soft and squishy.

– Remember anemic midwinter tomatoes or crunchy peppers just won’t cut the mustard.

– This soup is only as good its ingredients.