Gazpacho

Serves 4

You will need:

800g ripe tomatoes (about 7), cut into chunks 1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped Half a large cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped 8 spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped 75ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar A squeeze of lemon juice 2 cloves of garlic, peeled 2 teaspoons caster sugar Sea salt and freshly ground pepper Small basil leaves, to serve (optional)

1

Put the tomato chunks, the chopped red pepper, the chopped cucumber, the chopped spring onions, the extra-virgin olive oil, the sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, whichever you’re using, the lemon juice, the garlic cloves and the caster sugar in a blender. Add some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and blitz until smooth. Check the seasoning, and add a little more caster sugar if necessary.

2

Place a sieve over a large bowl, and push the soup through the sieve. Cover the bowl, and put it in the fridge to chill the soup before serving. Just before you’re ready to serve, stir the soup to bring it back together, as it will separate while sitting in the fridge.

3

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and drizzle over a little extra-virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, whichever you’re using, and a couple of small basil leaves, if you are using them.