Salmorejo (Creamy Tomato Soup)

Tomato, olive oil, sherry vinegar, day old bread, garlic and apple. 

Summer in Andalucia is like living inside a vocano, yeap, the roads melt, the streets are deserted, the dogs dig holes in the dirt to find some relief in the damp ground, the people leave their homes to camp at the beach, and the hotels, lower their prices. Lower the prices?? It is summer, it is peak season for most of Europe? As I was once told by a hotel concierge: " Ma'am, have you ever been in Sevilla during the summer?  Not even us (Sevillanos) want to live here, and he was right, high 80's to low 100's° F with sunrise around 7 am and sunset almost at 10 pm!  Yes, you want to be near water or living in a cave.

A great way to beat the heat is to eat cold food.  Lots of salads, some of them liquid, like Gazpacho and cold soups, such as ajo blanco and salmorejo.  Everyone has their own version of Gazpacho which is not fattening like salmorejo, which is made with bread and olive oil.  But I absolutely loathe cucumber, in Gazpacho, so for me, Salmorejo is the King of cold soups. 

Peel the tomatoes if you like.

Put all the ingredients in the blender

Cold creamy tomato soup. Delicious! 

just garnish with egg and ham

SALMOREJO:

Ingredients:

6 Ripe plum tomatoes
1 garlic clove peeled
1/8 day old baguette (crusty bread) or one or two hands full of any old bread
1/4 granny smith apple, peeled
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Salt/pepper to taste
1/2 to 1 teaspoon of Sherry vinegar (if not, then apple vinegar)

For the Garnish:
2 Hardboiled eggs chopped in little pieces
1 tablespoon of Spanish ham, prosciutto or bacon bits (last resort)
a splash of EVOO
If vegetarian, you may want to replace the ham for the little chopped sun dried tomatoes (optional)

Preparation:
Place the eggs in a small sauce pan, cover them with cold water.  Place the pan on the stove and heat until it begins to boil. Turn it off and cover.  Let the eggs sit in the hot water for 13 min. Remove and run through cold water and peel the eggs. Set them aside.

For the soup:
Peel the tomatoes, it make the soup really smooth, but you don't have to. I bought this great tomato peeler, so I use it every chance I get.  It is easier than blanching the tomatoes in hot water to peel them. Quarter the tomatoes, add them to the blender.  Add all the other ingredients except the garnish to the blender as well. Blend until creamy, add the salt and pepper to taste, blend again and correct the taste if you have to, and maybe the acidity with the vinegar. Serve the soup in two bowls and garnish with chopped hard boiled egg and ham bits.
Serves two. Enjoy.

Notes:
Most salmorejo recipes don't include the apple, this is a nice touch because it balances out the acidity in the soup.
If the bread is too old and hard, soak it in water and then squeeze the excess out and use it in the recipe.
Depending on the tomato's water content you may have to add a little water to the soup to get the right consistency or even more oil.
Sherry vinegar is the vinegar typical of the area, it is more acid than regular vinegar, so if using apple vinegar you may have to use a bit more.

Salmorejo with egg garnish and olive oil

SaveSave