Chef Isabel
Aguaillo de la Sierra de Cadiz
Aguaillo is from the Sierra de Cadiz: cold water, stale bread, garlic, oil and vinegar, closer to a field drink than a bowl of soup, and sharp enough to wake you in the heat.
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Gazpacho Extremeño
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Gazpacho Extremeño is Extremadura's thicker cold soup, close to salmorejo but its own thing: bread, cooked egg yolk, pepper, onion, and pimentón, served cold and spoonable.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
Outdoor Dining
25 min
Active Time
10 min cook•2 hr 35 min total
Yield4 servings
Gazpacho Extremeño belongs to Extremadura, and it isn't the Andaluz glass of tomato soup with cucumber. This one is thicker, closer to salmorejo in body, but the cooked egg yolk, pepper, onion, and pimentón give it its own hand. It should be cold, red, and spoonable, with enough bread to hold the oil, not so much that you feel you've blended a loaf.
The method that decides it is the yolk and oil. Mash the cooked yolks with garlic, salt, pimentón, vinegar, and soaked bread first, then let the olive oil go in slowly while the blender runs. That is what gives the soup its body. Pour the oil in all at once and it tastes heavy and separate; take half a minute and it turns smooth. Pésalo, no lo adivines.
Make it only when the tomatoes are worth eating raw. If you're far from Extremadura, use the ripest field tomatoes you can buy, or good canned whole peeled tomatoes only when fresh ones are poor; the flavour will be softer and less bright, but it will still make a proper cold soup. No cucumber here. That belongs to other gazpachos, not this one. Chill it hard, taste it cold, and serve with the chopped egg white and a little pepper and onion on top. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Gazpacho Extremeño comes from the hot inland kitchens and fields of Extremadura, where bread, garlic, oil, vinegar, and water were old working food before tomato made the soup red. The cooked egg yolk marks this version apart from the Andalusian gazpacho most people know, giving body to the bread-and-oil base and making a more filling cold dish for summer. In the same family sits cojondongo, especially tied to Badajoz, where the old gazpacho base is often served chunkier, almost halfway between soup and salad.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
900g
cored and roughly chopped
day-old rustic white bread
Quantity
120g
crusts removed
large eggs
Quantity
2
green pepper
Quantity
1 small
seeded and chopped, with a little finely diced for serving
white onion
Quantity
60g
chopped, with a little finely diced for serving
garlic
Quantity
1 small clove
sweet pimentón de la Vera
Quantity
1 teaspoon
vinagre de Jerez or good wine vinegar
Quantity
2 tablespoons
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
90ml, plus more to finish
cold water
Quantity
250ml, plus more as needed
fine salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| ripe tomatoescored and roughly chopped | 900g |
| day-old rustic white breadcrusts removed | 120g |
| large eggs | 2 |
| green pepperseeded and chopped, with a little finely diced for serving | 1 small |
| white onionchopped, with a little finely diced for serving | 60g |
| garlic | 1 small clove |
| sweet pimentón de la Vera | 1 teaspoon |
| vinagre de Jerez or good wine vinegar | 2 tablespoons |
| extra virgin olive oil | 90ml, plus more to finish |
| cold water | 250ml, plus more as needed |
| fine salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Blender
- •Small saucepan for eggs
- •Fine sieve, optional
Instructions
- 1
Cook the eggs
Put the eggs in a small pan, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes. Cool them in cold water, peel them, and separate the yolks from the whites. Keep the whites for the garnish and set the yolks aside for the soup.
- 2
Soak the bread
Tear the bread into pieces and soak it with 150ml of the cold water for 5 minutes, just until soft. Squeeze it lightly if it is dripping, but don't wring it dry. The bread is the body of the gazpacho; too dry and it won't blend smooth, too wet and the soup turns slack.
- 3
Build the base
Put the tomatoes, chopped green pepper, onion, garlic, cooked egg yolks, soaked bread, pimentón, vinegar, salt, and the remaining 100ml cold water in a blender. Blend for 2 full minutes, until the mixture is smooth and the bread has disappeared into the tomato.
- 4
Add the oil
With the blender running, pour in the olive oil slowly in a thin stream. This is the step that matters: the yolk, bread, and oil need time to come together, so the gazpacho turns thick and silky instead of oily at the edges. Taste and add a splash more cold water only if it is too thick to spoon easily.
If your blender is small, blend in two batches, then whisk the batches together in a bowl before chilling. - 5
Chill and serve
Chill for at least 2 hours. Taste again cold and adjust salt and vinegar, because the fridge dulls both. Finely chop the reserved egg whites and serve the gazpacho in shallow bowls with egg white, a little diced pepper and onion, and a thin thread of olive oil. No cucumber. It isn't missing.
Chef Tips
- •Make this when tomatoes are heavy, fragrant, and good enough to eat raw. Out of season, Extremadura has plenty of cocina de cuchara, spoon food, to keep you fed while you wait: chickpeas with spinach, lentils, or a potato stew with pimentón.
- •Use pimentón de la Vera if you can. Extremadura grows and smokes the peppers for it, and that quiet red depth is part of the dish. Sweet is the usual one here; hot pimentón takes over too quickly.
- •No cucumber in this version. If you add it, you haven't ruined lunch, but you've moved toward a different gazpacho. This one gets its freshness from tomato, pepper, onion, vinegar, and the cold.
- •If fresh tomatoes are poor, use 800g drained good canned whole peeled tomatoes and add 100ml of their juice only if the blender needs it. The soup will be rounder and less sharp, so taste carefully for vinegar.
Advance Preparation
- •Make it 2 to 8 hours ahead so it can chill hard and settle. Stir before serving, then taste again for salt and vinegar.
- •Keeps 2 days covered in the refrigerator. The bread thickens as it stands, so loosen with a spoonful or two of cold water if needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 390g)
Calories
365 calories
Total Fat
24 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
95 mg
Sodium
930 mg
Total Carbohydrates
32 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
9 g
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