Today is the first day of FALL! I wait all year for this day; I am one of those people. But before I jump into several posts on the Fall recipes I wait all year to make, I am going to dedicate one post to Summer, because I guess it has its perks, too. Tomatoes.
Last Summer, my lifelong dream of cooking in Spain came true in a tiny kitchen in Seville. Accompanied by 22 of my new best friends (it’s a long story), I spent one morning wandering through an indoor market and sipping espressos out of tiny Styrofoam cups. Here, we attended a cooking class where we learned how to chop garlic in very confined spaces while drinking sangria. We cooked a number of traditional Spanish dishes that I am still working on recreating, but one that I’ve made time and time again is Salmorejo. This is a cold soup- and while I acknowledge that gazpacho-y things are not for everyone- this recipe is different. It is heartier than most cold soups, with its inclusion of bread and good quality *important* Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Every time I make this recipe, I’m taken back to sweating in this tiny kitchen with our new friends and laughing at our tour guide’s lack of organization, catching a morning buzz on homemade Sangria. Enjoy!
Salmorejo (3-4 1 C servings)
8 medium-sized tomatoes
2 small cloves garlic
2-3 T salt (to taste)
Fresh ground pepper (to taste)
1/2 large baguette (the stale-r the better)
3/4 C good quality olive oil
1 T sherry vinegar
Method
Add tomatoes and fresh garlic to blender and puree for 30 seconds on high. Slowly add bread to tomatoes, letting it soak for a minute or so with each addition and puree until smooth. Once all bread is incorporated, turn blender on low speed and slowly add olive oil in top of bender- you’ll watch the color change to a creamy orange. Add sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper and give it a few final pulses.
Top with crispy Serrano ham or prosciutto and hard boiled eggs.
Annie's Tiny Kitchen 