Gazpacho Andaluz de Remolacha

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Digital scale
• •High-powered blender or food processor
• •Fine sieve or chinois
• •Large covered jug or glass bottle

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose ripe tomatoes

   Make this only when the tomatoes are heavy, fragrant, and worth eating raw. Put the chopped tomatoes, 260g of the beetroot, 150g of the cucumber, 70g of the pepper, the garlic, and the salt in a large bowl and toss well. Leave it for 10 minutes while the bread soaks in 50ml cold water; the salt pulls juice from the tomato so the blender catches without drowning the soup.

   Use cooked beetroot that tastes of beetroot, not vinegar. Vacuum-packed cooked beetroot is fine. Pickled beetroot has already had the sugar and vinegar decided for you, and the gazpacho tastes like the jar.
2. 2

   Blend the base

   Squeeze the bread just enough that it is wet but not dripping. Add it to the blender with the salted vegetables and the sherry vinegar, then blend for 2 full minutes, scraping once if needed, until no skins or pale flecks remain. Beetroot can feel heavy if left coarse, so let the machine do its work.

3. 3

   Emulsify the oil

   With the blender running, pour in the 90ml olive oil in a thin, steady stream. This is the step that decides the soup: the oil emulsifies into the tomato and beetroot, turning it glossy and smooth instead of separated and watery. Pass it through a fine sieve if you want a clean Andalusian finish, then loosen with 100 to 150ml very cold water until it pours like light cream.

4. 4

   Chill and correct

   Cover and chill for at least 2 hours, longer if you can. Taste it again when it is properly cold; cold dulls salt and vinegar, and beetroot asks for a firm hand with both. Add a few more drops of sherry vinegar if it tastes sweet before it tastes bright.

5. 5

   Serve very cold

   Pour into chilled glasses or small bowls. Finish with a thin thread of olive oil and the reserved diced cucumber, green pepper, and beetroot. Serve at once, cold enough to bead the glass, with bread on the side if this is lunch and not just a sip before it.

Chef Tips

• •If the tomatoes aren't worth eating raw, the gazpacho isn't worth making yet. In that gap, make ajoblanco, the older Andalusian cold soup of almonds, bread, garlic, oil, and vinegar, while you wait for tomato season.
• •Use plain cooked beetroot, not pickled. If you cook it yourself, simmer or roast it whole, then chill it before blending. Warm beetroot makes a dull soup and steals the cold brightness you came for.
• •Vinagre de Jerez gives the dry, rounded edge this needs. A good red wine vinegar works if that is what you have, but start with 30ml and add the rest after chilling; it can bite harder.
• •If you can't find pimiento verde italiano, use half a mild green bell pepper. It is a little wetter and less grassy, so do not add the full amount of water until after blending.
• •For outdoor dining, carry it in a cold flask or a bottle packed with ice blocks and garnish at the table. Lukewarm gazpacho is punishment, not hospitality.

Advance Preparation

• •To cook beetroot yourself, simmer whole unpeeled beets in salted water until a knife slides in, 45 to 60 minutes depending on size, then cool, peel, and chill. Do this up to 3 days ahead.
• •Make the gazpacho 4 to 24 hours ahead. It needs at least 2 hours in the refrigerator, and the flavour settles nicely by the next day.
• •Keep the diced garnish separate until serving so the cucumber and pepper stay crisp.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 345g)