Spicy Gazpacho Soup

Tomatoes - you say a vegetable; I say a fruit:=)  Nah, doesn't matter, call it whatever you like.  Regular readers will know I am not that keen on tomatoes, but I don't mind them whizzed up in a soup or stew.  If you're lucky, it may not taste like tomato at all - yes, joking folks. This is such an easy and flavourful dish for those hot summer nights - crikey, it was 39C today!!

And when it's hot, there's no need to put any clothes on I always feel.  I am (in)famous in the family for being naked at home.  More times than I can tell, I have been found out when visitors pop round to the front door, or when I throw open my bedroom shutters to find the neighbour on his tall ladder doing something like painting his walls or cleaning windows.  Ah well, we have to be famous for something, am I right?

deliciously chilled soup

(Recipe adapted by yours truly)

Serves 6 as an entree:

ingredients:


3-4 slices of thick, white bread like sourdough or pane di casa

5 tbs (100mLs) of red wine or sherry vinegar

1 kg. of ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 medium red capsicum, roughly chopped

1 medium green capsicum, roughly chopped

1 medium red onion, roughly chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 red or green jalapeño chilli, roughly sliced

1 medium cucumber, roughly chopped

1/3 cup almonds or almond meal

1 cup tomato juice

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

cold water (optional) to thin it out if preferred


To serve:


1 avocado, diced

fresh coriander leaves (optional)

almonds, finely sliced

prosciutto or serrano ham, chopped




Method:


Place the torn-up and de-crusted bread into a medium bowl

Pour the vinegar over the bread and give it a toss

Put aside till ready to blitz the soup

Throw all the veg. into a large food processor -i.e. the tomatoes, capsicums, onion, garlic, chilli, and the cucumber

Add the almonds or almond meal, the tomato juice, olive oil, salt and pepper

Give it a really good blitzing!  It will appear pale pink and creamy

Some recipes suggest to strain it, but I like it the way it is:=)

Pour into a jug or large bowl and place in the fridge to chill

Serve with the avocado, coriander, almonds and prosciutto


Notes:


You will need to blitz this in several batches 'cos nobody makes a processor that big

You may want it a little less thick so add only 2-3 slices of bread if so

Some recipes suggest adding chopped hard boiled egg when serving - your choice

ingredients

hubby doing most of the chopping

squishing the bread and vinegar together 

pouring the tomato juice into the processor

thick and delicious

the accompaniments

chilled, garnished and ready to eat   

I have based this on a few different recipes: one from a Margaret Fulton memoir; one from John Olsen's book - A Recipe For Art, and one from an online site called Slate (recipe author L.V. Anderson).  Hopefully, this is the best version of all 3.


BTW, if you like art and food and drawings of food, you might like the Olsen book.  We were in Melbourne over Christmas, but sadly didn't get to see the exhibition of his works at the NGV.  But I did buy this book which is full of recipes from his travels, and has lots of fun artworks depicting the food he made and ate.  He learned to cook when he moved to Spain in the 1950's, and still cooked even into his 80's.  He is now 89, and still going strong.  Food, cooking, art - what's not to love?

my tomato doodle