Spanish Vegetable Soup (Gazpacho)

Ingredients

• 1 slice whole‑grain baguette
• 1 onion
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 4 fully ripe tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 2 bell peppers (red and yellow)
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• Salt
• Cayenne pepper
• 2 sprigs Basil
• 2 sprigs parsley

Instructions

1. 1.

   Soak the baguette in a little water, then drain. Peel the onion and garlic and finely dice both. Score the tomatoes crosswise, pour boiling water over them in a bowl, shock with cold water, peel, quarter, seed, and remove stems. Peel the cucumber, cut lengthwise into halves, and deseed. Wash, peel, halve, and clean the bell peppers.

2. 2.

   Cut about one quarter of each cucumber, pepper, and tomato into small cubes for garnish; chop the rest into larger pieces. Puree the vegetable chunks in a food processor. Squeeze out excess water from the bread and mix it with onion and garlic into the puree. Add roughly 250 ml cold water to reach the desired consistency.

3. 3.

   Stir in vinegar, olive oil, a pinch of salt, and cayenne pepper.

4. 4.

   Cover the soup and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving; taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve in glasses, sprinkling with the small vegetable cubes if desired.

5. 5.

   Wash, dry, and shake the herbs; pluck leaves from the stems to garnish the soup.