- 1 red pepper
- A bag of tomatoes
- 1 cucumber
- ½ onion
- 1 garlic clove
- A handful of flat leaf parsley
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- A bag of breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp caster sugar (optional)
- A pot of white crab meat
- 10 ice cubes (optional)
- 2 tbsp olive oil + 2 tsp
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- Plastic food bag
- A couple of bowls
- Food processor or blender
- 1.
Heat your grill to high. Halve the pepper and scoop out the seeds and white bits. Grill the pepper, skin side up, for 5 mins till charred. Place the pepper halves in a plastic food bag. Pop to one side for 5 mins to loosen the skin.
- 2.
Pierce the skin of the tomatoes in several places. Place in a large bowl and pour over enough boiling water so they’re just covered. Leave for 1 min till the skins start to peel. Drain and rinse under cold water so the flesh doesn’t begin to cook.
- 3.
Peel the tomatoes. Halve them, scoop out the seeds with a spoon or knife and discard the skin and seeds.
- 4.
Peel the skin from the peppers and discard. Peel the cucumber, reserve a quarter for later and roughly chop the larger portion.
- 5.
Peel and roughly chop half the onion. Peel the garlic clove.
- 6.
Place all the ingredients you’ve prepared in a blender or food processor. Add most of the parsley, keeping a few sprigs for decoration. Add 1 tbsp of the vinegar, the breadcrumbs and 10 ice cubes. Blitz till smooth.
- 7.
Add 2 tbsp olive oil and blend again. Taste and add 1 tsp sugar if you think it needs it. Season. Dice the reserved cucumber. Serve the soup topped with cucumber, parsley leaves and crab meat. Drizzle over 1 tsp of olive oil on each to finish.
- Tip
Chill out
Gazpacho is best served cold. Blending with ice cubes is a quick way to chill it and get the right consistency. Or blitz it with a splash of cold water till you get a smooth soup, then chill in the fridge.
