Gazpacho

I still have a glut of tomatoes so I was trying to think of other recipes that I could prepare to use some of them.

Suddenly I remembered my recipe for Gazpacho – which would also use up a bit of green pepper and some cucumber – ideal!

Ingredients

• 1.25 kg ripe tomatoes
• half a medium onion
• half a cucumber
• 1 green pepper
• 1 cup olive oil
• 2 soup spoons vinegar
• some stale bread (quantity varies depending on taste, but I use very little)
• cold water
• ice cubes

Method

The tomatoes should be peeled and de-seeded. To peel them place them in boiling water for about 30 seconds and then when you remove them the skins should come off easily. Alternatively you could follow what I do and decide not to peel them to avoid the messing around. I actually like having the seeds in the Gazpacho but you should decide for yourself.

Then chop up the tomatoes, onion, cucumber and green pepper. Don’t worry about chopping them too small as they are all going into the food blender.

Now put some of each ingredient in the blender and blend. Transfer the mix to a bowl and continue to blend all the ingredients. This should result in a “chunky” soup. I like it this way but some people prefer it to be completely smooth. If you want this smooth soup then put the gazpacho through a sieve. This will get rid of the tomato seeds and skin if you left them on and any other lumps. At this stage you can add water to get the thickness that you want. I tend to not add very much as I like a thick soup.

Once you have done all this put the gazpacho into a serving bowl, add the ice cubes and put it all in the fridge to chill.

When you serve it you can put a few more ice cubes in it – I personally don’t do this.