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SMOOTH ANDALUSIAN GAZPACHO
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
-About 2 pounds ripe red tomatoes, seeded, and roughly cut into chunks
-1 Italian frying (cubanelle) pepper or another long, light green pepper, such as Anaheim, cored, seeded and roughly cut into chunks. (I prefer the fruitier cubanelle pepper to the common green pepper)
-1 cucumber, about 8 inches long, peeled and roughly cut into chunks
-1 small mild onion (white or red), peeled and roughly cut into chunks
-1 clove garlic
-2 teaspoons sherry vinegar; more to taste
-1 teaspoon salt
-½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more to taste, plus more for drizzling
-Freshly ground black pepper
-Assorted garnishes to your taste including chopped hard-boiled eggs and Iberian ham (or prosciutto), slivered toasted almonds, toasted pieces of a rustic style bread, cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, diced avocado, chopped chives, and/or quartered pearl onions pulled apart.
Preparation:
1. Combine tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion and garlic in a blender or, if using a hand blender, in a deep bowl. (If necessary, work in batches.) Blend at high speed until very smooth, at least 2 minutes, pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.
2. With the motor running, add the vinegar and 1 teaspoons salt.
3. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil. The mixture will turn bright orange or dark pink and become smooth and emulsified, like a salad dressing. If it still seems watery, drizzle in more olive oil until texture is creamy.
4. Strain the mixture through a strainer or a food mill, pushing all the liquid through with a spatula or the back of a ladle. Discard the solids.
5. Transfer to a large pitcher (preferably glass) and chill until very cold, at least 6 hours or overnight.
6. Before serving, adjust the seasonings with salt and vinegar.
7. If soup is very thick, stir in a few tablespoons ice water.
8. Serve the soup chilled in glasses as appetizers or in a bowl if you are serving it as a first course or a light main meal.
A drizzle of olive oil on top is a nice touch. In addition to combinations of the garnishes listed above, if I have any left-over in the fridge, I especially like to add 2-3 Spicy Cajun Shrimp to the bowl before pouring on the soup to make it a main meal.