Home-Made Gazpacho

Summer is officially with us, so what better meal to serve up than a delicious, home-made gazpacho. This cold soup loved by the Spanish and served all over the world. With temperatures here in the high 30´s and still rising, this is a perfect soup that you can make in bulk and freeze.

As always, this is my take on the soup, as I like it quite garlicky and with a bit of a burn. If you wanted, you could reduce the quantities of garlic and wine vinegar to give a smoother flavour.

If you like spicy or garlicky recipes, you could give spiced chicken tagine a try. As with any recipe, you can make it as spicy (or un-spicy) as you like.

One more thing, if you´ve not tried a cold soup before, don´t worry, home-made gazpacho really is delicious, and often served with ice cubes bobbing around in it. Also, it´s probably a lot heartier than you may think.

Ingredients (serves 4) MAKE A DAY IN ADVANCE

• 2 kg large ripe tomatoes (see below for preparation)
• 1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar (you could substitute sherry vinegar)
• 400 g tomato purée (“frito”) or juice
• a couple of large glugs of extra virgin olive oil

For the garnish:

• a few cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1/2 cucumber, finely chopped
• 1/2 large spring onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
• 3 hard boiled eggs, roughly chopped
• croutons (home-made, or use shop bought ones and refry them)

Recommendation for preparing the tomatoes

1. The tomatoes need to have their skins and seeds removed. I have tried a number of ways to do this, and generally find this the best method. Of course, if you have a better way, please let me know.
2. Boil the tomatoes (in batches if necessary) in a pan, to loosen off the skins. Ensure that they are fully submerged.
3. Place them on some kitchen towel to cool down a little, and peel the skins away from the stalk. You may have to make an incision around the stalk area. Use a pair of tongs and/or tweezers if they are still too hot to handle.
4. Once cool enough to handle, slice them into four, length-ways, and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Once again, you may have to cut around the stalk area. Keep the flesh and discard the rest.
5. Chop the tomato flesh into chunks.

Method

1. Prepare the tomatoes, as above.
2. Blitz the tomatoes, peppers, garlic, tomato juice, wine vinegar and oil in a liquidiser, or use a hand liquidiser like me.
3. Season well, cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least 12 hours (or preferably overnight) to thoroughly chill.
4. When chilled, taste. If necessary add more seasoning, wine vinegar or a little sugar if too tart. Also check for consistency. If too thick for your taste, add a little chilled water and stir well. Replace in the fridge.
5. Boil the eggs for 10 minutes, allow to cool then shell and chop roughly.
6. Chop the garnish ingredients and fry the croutons in olive oil with a little paprika (“pimentón“).
7. Bowl up the soup and serve with a healthy topping of garnish.

Enjoy the flavours of a Spanish summer. Home-made gazpacho will transport you to sunnier climes!