Versatile gazpacho with Olive Oil recipe

Versatile gazpacho with olive oil recipe

Preparation:

1. Wash the tomatoes and score a cross in the skins with the point of a knife.
2. Boil some water in a saucepan to blanche the tomatoes in.
3. As the water comes to the boil, add the tomatoes one by one for 45 seconds.
4. Remove them quickly from the boiling water and put them in some pre-prepared iced water. With this change of temperature the tomato skins will shrink.
5. The skin now comes off easily; now, quarter each tomato.
6. Cut the bread into small cubes.
7. Let the chopped tomatoes macerate in a bowl with a teaspoon of salt to make them sweat and release all their juices, then add the bread and 3 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Spain. Stir to blend all the ingredients.
8. Set aside for 20 minutes.
9. Chop the rest of the vegetables and add them to the bowl of tomatoes.
10. Blend with a hand mixer or food processor until you get a smooth consistency.
11. At the last minute, add Picual Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the juice of a lemon and the salt, adjusting to taste.
12. Finally, fry the croutons for serving with this delicious dish.
13. Dice 4 slices of bread. Tip: use scissors for a cleaner cut and to avoid the bread crumbling.
14. Place the cubes of bread on an baking tray, sprinkle with salt and any herbs you happen to have in the house (oregano, rosemary, thyme, parsley, etc.), add a generous drizzle of Picual Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Spain and cook under the grill for a couple of minutes. As every oven is different, keep your eye on them so that they don’t burn. You can make a larger quantity and keep them in an airtight container to use later with soups, salads, etc.
15. The croutons are ready.
16. Serve the soup chilled and garnished with a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Spain. And now enjoy this delicacy brought to us by the Mediterranean Diet.
    

     

As we mentioned at the beginning, for the more adventurous when it comes to trying new flavours, you can make slight variations to the ingredients, such as substituting three-quarters of the tomato content for plums, cherries or juicy melon. The result will be an equally refreshing version but with a very distinctive nuance in the taste according to the fruit you choose. You can also try using smoother and sweeter Olive Oils from Spain for this version; you’ll see just how well they go together. An excellent garnish for these versions is some goat’s cheese and a few fresh mint leaves. Enjoy!

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