Cherry Gazpacho

This cold soup makes sense as soon as the temperature goes above 21 degrees centigrade, which is most of spring, summer and autumn in Spain! With the spring and summer heat all over Europe this year we have had a lot of feedback from our guests that they have been making a batch of gazpacho every week to stay cool! We like to add some extra seasonal fruits to our gazpachos such as cherries in this instance; strawberries or watermelon also work well. Just a little mind, we want to keep the soup savoury but the subtle depth of flavour adds a special summeryness. 

All of the fruits and vegetables in a gazpacho are quite sweet, so a generous quantity of vinegar is used to edit the sweet and sour balance. There is also a surprisingly generous amount of olive oil, at least 25ml per person, that goes in there which gives it a smooth, silky, glossy texture once emulsified.

Tomatoes and cucumbers from our huerto

Ingredients (Serves 4)

4 Ripe tomatoes

300g Cherries

½ Cucumber

½ Red pepper

½ Onion (sweet variety)

1 clove Garlic

40g Sherry vinegar (or use apple cider vinegar)

100ml Extra virgin olive oil

1. Peel the cucumber. Cut a quarter into very fine dice to use as garnish and keep aside in the fridge. Halve the cherries and remove the stones. Reserve 8 halves for garnish and put the rest in a blender.

2. Roughly chop all the rest of the cucumber and other fruits and vegetables. Pop them into a blender, along with a pinch of salt and the sherry vinegar and blend until smooth.

3. Use a ladle to push the mixture through a chinois or a sieve. Discard the skins and seeds that will be caught and keep the now smooth soup. 

4. Blend the soup again, whilst adding the extra virgin olive oil in a slow and steady stream, so that it emulsifies with the soup, making it creamy, sumptuous, smooth and glossy. Season again to your taste with salt and vinegar. You want to be able to just taste the vinegar.

5. Chill the mixture until ready to serve. Serve ice cold with a sprinkle of the small cubes of cucumber and cherry and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.