Gazpacho

Name: Gazpacho
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 50 g day-old white bread, crusts removed; 1 kg very ripe tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped; 0.5 cucumber, peeled and chopped, plus a little extra diced to serve; 1 small green bell pepper, seeded and chopped; 1 clove garlic, peeled; 1 tsp salt; 2 tbsp sherry vinegar; 80 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus a little to serve; 100 ml cold water, optional, to thin

2 h 20
Prep 20 min
Cook 0 min
Serves 4
easy

Start cooking

A chilled Andalusian soup of ripe tomato, cucumber and green pepper, blended smooth with bread, garlic, sherry vinegar and olive oil.

Method

1
Tear the bread into pieces and soak in a little cold water until soft.
2
Squeeze the bread to remove most of the water and put it in the blender.
3
Add the tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, garlic, salt and vinegar.
4
Blend on high until completely smooth, with no flecks of skin visible.
5
With the motor running, pour in the oil in a thin stream. The soup turns paler and creamy as it emulsifies.
6
Press the soup through a fine sieve into a large bowl, pushing hard on the solids, and discard what stays behind.
7
Taste and adjust the salt and vinegar. Stir in some cold water if the soup is thicker than single cream.
8
Cover and chill until very cold.
9
Stir, then pour into chilled bowls or glasses and finish with diced cucumber and a thread of olive oil.

Notes

The soup depends on the tomatoes. Use the ripest, reddest ones you can find, and let them sit at room temperature rather than in the fridge before using.
For a gluten-free gazpacho, leave out the bread. The soup will be a little thinner.
Gazpacho keeps well for 2 days in the fridge. Stir before serving, as it can separate slightly.

Equipment

Blender, Fine sieve, Large bowl

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