Gazpacho

Chilled Spanish Gazpacho

700 g firm red ripe tomatoes
Begin by placing the tomatoes in a bowl and pouring boiling water over them; after a minute or two the skins will loosen and slip off very easily. Halve the tomatoes, scoop out and discard the seeds and roughly chop the flesh.

10 cm piece of cucumber, peeled and chopped
2 or 3 spring onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 large red or green pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 heaped teaspoon fresh chopped basil, marjoram or thyme (depending on what's available)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons wine vinegar
salt and freshly milled black pepper
Now place the tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, crushed garlic and chopped pepper in a liquidiser, adding a seasoning of salt and pepper, the herbs, oil and wine vinegar.

Then blend everything at top speed until the soup is absolutely smooth.
Taste to check the seasoning and pour the soup into a bowl. Stir in a little cold water to thin it slightly – anything from 150-275 ml – then cover the bowl with foil and chill thoroughly.

For the garnish:
1/2 large red or green pepper, deseeded and very finely chopped
10 cm piece of cucumber, peeled and finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped
1 heaped tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
salt and freshly milled black pepper
To make the garnish, simply combine all the ingredients together with a seasoning of salt and freshly milled black pepper, and hand them round at the table together with small croutons of bread fried till crisp in olive oil, well drained and cooled.

To serve:
4 ice cubes
small croutons
Serve the soup with four ice cubes floating in it.
Serves 6.