Gazpacho soup with wilted basil

Ingredients

For the soup

• 2-4 ripe vine tomatoes (approx 400g)
• 1 small avocado
• 2 red Romano peppers, half of 1 reserved for the topping
• 2 spring onions
• 1 small garlic clove, microplaned
• ½ cucumber, peeled (200g)
• 1 tsp sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• Zest of half a lemon
• 1 tsp honey (unnecessary if your tomatoes are very sweet)
• ¼ tsp hot paprika

To serve

• Handful basil leaves
• 1 tbsp good olive oil
• ½ red Romano pepper, diced

Method

Perhaps the best known salad soup, gazpacho hails from Andalusia in Spain. I find that Romano peppers – the long red ones with darker skin – tend to be better than standard bell peppers for this recipe as they are sweeter and have a more tender skin. Because of the raw garlic element, this recipe is best if made and then left for about 30 minutes to let the flavours develop before it is eaten.

Place everything in a blender with plenty of salt and pepper – note that cold food requires more seasoning.

Blend, then adjust the seasoning according to the sweetness of your ingredients – you may need a little extra honey and sherry vinegar if your tomatoes aren’t as ripe as they could be.

Place the basil leaves in a sieve over the sink and pour boiling water over them to wilt them. Immediately run cold water over them to stop them turning black. Gently squeeze them to remove excess moisture then place them in a bowl with the olive oil, plenty of sea salt and some diced red Romano pepper. Spoon this on top of each bowl before serving.

This recipe is extracted from Just Soup by Henrietta Clancy, out now from Short Books, RRP £12.99.

Visit our soup section for more soup and stew recipes