Cold tomato and cucumber soup, Andalusian style

Ingredients

0 of 12 out on the counter

• 6 large ripe tomatoes (3 inches across, 182 g each; 1,092 g), cored and cut in chunks
• 1 large cucumber (8¼ inches, 280 g), peeled and cut in chunks
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut in chunks
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil, blended in
• 1 tbsp olive oil, a swirl over the bowls
• 4 slices whole-wheat bread (32 g each; 128 g), served on the side

All set! Everything is out. Time to bake.

Method

1. 1Put the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, onion, garlic powder, paprika, vinegar, salt and black pepper in a blender. Blend on high for 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth. Work in two batches if the jar is small.
2. 2With the blender running on low, pour in the 2 tbsp of olive oil in a thin stream. The soup turns a shade paler and thickens a little.
3. 3Pour into a lidded container and chill at least 2 hours. Cold dulls salt and acid, so stir and taste before serving; add nothing unmeasured, and if it needs more, stir in another ½ tsp of vinegar.
4. 4Ladle into 4 bowls. Swirl ¾ tsp of the remaining olive oil over each bowl. Serve with a slice of whole-wheat bread on the side, soup first and bread after.
5. 5Keep cold. Do not leave the soup out more than 2 hours, or more than 1 hour above 90 °F. It keeps 3 days in the fridge (our kitchen practice; we hold no published source for it yet). Gazpacho is eaten cold and not reheated; it does not freeze well because the cucumber turns watery (our kitchen practice).