Ingredients

• 125g rustic white bread, e.g. sourdough, French baguette, crusty cob
• 1kg ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 1 green pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 500ml tomato passata
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve: Croutons, chopped hard-boiled eggs, chopped black olives.

Method

The flavour of this classic Spanish cold soup relies on ripe, good-quality tomatoes. In Britain I boost the flavour with tomato passata, but if you grow your own tomatoes or find a decent supply, substitute the passata with 500g roughly chopped tomatoes. It can be made up to 48 hours in advance.

Pour enough cold water on to the bread to cover it, then soak for 15 minutes. Drain, squeeze out any excess water and place in a food processor or liquidiser. Add the tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, garlic, sherry vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. Process until smooth.

Pass 3/4 of the gazpacho through a sieve, pressing down to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the solid matter. Stir in the remaining gazpacho and the passata. If you like it smooth, you can sieve all the contents of the processor. Season with salt and pepper. Chill for 3-4 hours before serving in soup bowls with the suggested accompaniments.