Gazpacho with Parmesan croutons

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Ingredients

Serves 4

5 large vine tomatoes, lightly scored on the bottom with a cross
1 green pepper, cored and roughly chopped
1 cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
100g stale bread
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil or extra virgin olive oil
2 large pinches Maldon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Drizzle of rapeseed or extra virgin olive oil and basil leaves to garnish

For the Parmesan croutons:

4 slices of bread, a bread roll, end of ciabatta etc
25g finely grated Parmesan
Drizzle of rapeseed oil

Timings

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 12 minutes for the croutons
Total time: 22 minutes

Gazpacho

On a hot summer’s day, I am a huge fan of Gazpacho. It reminds me of the baking heat of Corfu where I first learned this recipe. There are numerous alternatives to try, but for me, this is Gazpacho in its purest form. It’s crunchy, fresh, satisfying and healthful. What more could you wish for?

Method

Preheat the oven to 180/350/gas 4. Place the chunks of bread for the croutons on a baking tray. Season with salt, pepper and a drizzle of oil and scatter over the Parmesan cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes and allow to cool.

Fill a large saucepan with water. Bring to the boil and place in the criss-crossed tomatoes. Bring to the boil for 1 minute, drain and cool under running water. Once they are cool enough to handle, slice them in half vertically and remove the little green nodule. Chop the rest of the flesh roughly and place it in a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients. Blitz to a fine soup consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Serve your gaspacho with Parmesan croutons with a drizzle of oil and a few sprigs of basil.

DOWNLOAD OR PRINT RECIPE HERE.