(Gratuitous iPhone photo of produce)
Because you will have organic fresh veg coming out your ears. Not to mention fresh eggs every morning. This was two days worth of cherry tomato harvesting. They are all vine ripened, so ultra sweet. They are heirloom varieties, so ultra tasty. We also had more chillies and cucumbers then we knew what to do with. So the logical conclusion was gazpacho. You will need:
- Lots of awesome tomatoes- maybe 5 cups.. the more the merrier. Vine ripened is pretty much the only way to go here. No need to bother if your toms don't rock.
- Two red capsicums
- A cucumber
- A red onion
- Fresh chillies to taste
- Two or more cloves of garlic
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- Balsamic (optional)
- Fresh herbs- parsely, basil, corriander
- salt and pepper
- Serve with hot fresh bread
Make it:
- Take the awesome tomatoes and whack them in your food processor until you have around three cups of tomato mush. Pour into a big pot or serving bowl.
- Chop a couple of capsicums, a big cucumber (or a couple of little ones) a red onion and as many chillies as you like. If it takes your fancy/ you are cooking with a boy who loves the food processor, pulse them until they are your desired size and consistancy. Add to the pot with the tomatos.
- Add 1/2-1 cup of extra virgin olive oil and 1/3 cup red wine vinegar. If you are cooking with a boy, also add a slosh of balsamic. Season with salt and pepper and squash in a couple of cloves of garlic. If your tomatoes aren't perfect, sprinkle in some castor sugar as well, to round out the flavour. If you feel so inclined, sprinkle some dried oregano, but better still, chop up corriander, basil and parsley- as much as you have- and mix everything together.
- Chill for a couple of hours at least to let the flavours meld.
- Serve with hot bread or toast rubbed with garlic and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Gets better the next day and even better the day after that, if there is any left.
This was our post Christmas ham-free food. It lasted us four days for Mr Hansom and I having a bit with lunch and a bit with dinner. It was fantastic. Sad that there is no more tomatoes now that we are back home.
