A favourite recipe for summer is gazpacho – chilled tomato soup. It’s great for lunch or as part of a meal for dinner. This year we’ve had an over abundance of tomatoes in the garden at home. I grew a type of Italian tomato from seed from the Franchi seed range that we sell. I’ve also made the gazpacho using Dragon’s Macedonian tomatoes – they also had great flavour.
- Ingredients:
- Soaked bread
- 1kg well ripened tomatoes – peeled, seeded and chopped
- 1 red pepper – seeded and chopped
- 2 chopped cloves of garlic
- 1 chopped fresh chilli (optional)
- 1 tsp castor sugar
- 2 tbsps red wine vinegar
- Process till smooth and then gradually 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil.
- Season to taste and then chill for at least 2 hours.
- To garnish finely chop:
- ½ Lebanese cucumber (seeded)
- ½ red pepper
- ½ red onion
- ½ ripe tomato
Method
Gazpacho – chilled Tomato Soup Ingredients and method (adapted from ‘The Food of Spain’)
Soak 2 pieces of a good quality white bread (crusts removed) in cold water for 5 mins. Squeeze out the water
Put all in the following in a food processor:
Serve in individual bowls. Either top with garnish or let each person serve themselves. Drizzle with a little more olive oil.
Other garnishes could also include poached prawns or a little hot smoked salmon.