Gazpacho

Delicious Cold Soup from Spain

I am a massive fan of Spain, I spent most of my holidays growing up in Marbella, we used to go to this really simple beach restaurant where they would serve delicious freshly caught fish, Prawns Pil Pil, Tortilla de Patatas, and the famous chilled Spanish soup Gazpacho. It really is one of the most refreshing soups, in Spain they put ice cubes in to make it really cold and of course they add a number of tasty garnishes like chopped onion, cucumber, pepper and toasted croutons. This is an ideal soup for one as it is so easy to make and easy to make smaller quantities or will keep happily in the fridge for a few days.

Ingredients

6 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 green pepper, seeds removed, chopped

1 small red onion or 6 spring onions, chopped

½ cucumber, peeled

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 small handful fresh basil leaves

50ml/2fl oz extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the garnish

1 day-old baguette, thinly sliced

olive oil

pinch paprika

4 ice cubes

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 spring onions or ½ red onion, finely chopped

½ red pepper, seeds removed, finely chopped

½ yellow pepper, seeds removed, finely chopped

fresh basil leaves

For the soup, place all of the vegetables, garlic and basil for into a food processor and blend until smooth. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve to remove most of the pulp and skin, which you should then discard.

Lightly rinse the bowl of the food processor to remove any pulp and skin, then pour the sieved soup back into the food processor. Blend again, while slowly pouring in the extra virgin olive oil through the feeder, followed by the sherry vinegar, until well combined. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Transfer the soup to a container and chill, covered, in the fridge until ready to serve.

For the garnish, preheat the grill to high.

Place the slices of baguette onto a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Season the baguette slices with paprika and salt, then toast under the grill for 1-2 minutes on both sides, or until golden-brown all over.

To serve, place an ice cube into your serving bowl and ladle over the soup. Float the crisp baguette slices over the soup, scatter over the finely chopped spring onions and peppers and garnish with a few basil leaves.