3 end-of-summer Spanish soups | Food & Drink | Wanderlust

Britain is enjoying the last of the summer sunshine - sample one of these chilled Spanish soups to freshen up

1. Andalusian-style chilled tomato soup (Salmorejo)

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Makes: 2 litres

Ingredients:

1kg very ripe tomatoes
90g white sliced sandwich bread, with crusts, roughly torn
2?3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1? tbsp red wine vinegar
? tsp sea salt flakes
85ml (2? fl oz) extra virgin olive oil
4 hard-boiled free-range eggs, chopped
4 slices Spanish ham, chopped

1. Blanch the tomatoes in a large saucepan of boiling water for one minute, until the skins split. Peel, squeeze out the seeds and chop the flesh roughly.

2. Put the bread into a bowl of water to soak for two to three minutes. Squeeze out the liquid and put the bread into a blender with the tomato, garlic, vinegar and salt. Blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning if necessary. With the blender motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Chill for two to three hours.

3. Serve the chilled soup topped with the egg and ham, or try a peeled and chopped green apple.

Note: These soups will keep in the fridge for up to one week or can be frozen for up to three months.

2. Chilled strawberry soup (Gazpacho de fresas)

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This soup can be served as a starter, snack or dessert. It?s a great way to use very ripe strawberries that are about to spoil.

Serves: Four to six

Ingredients:

500g very ripe strawberries, washed, hulled and coarsely chopped
55g white sugar
100ml freshly squeezed orange juice
10 ice cubes
edible flower petals, for garnishing (optional)

1. Put the strawberries into a large bowl with the sugar and orange juice. Stir. Set aside to macerate for 10?20 minutes.

2. Put the strawberry mixture and ice cubes into a food processor and pur?e until very smooth. Taste for sweetness and add a little more sugar if desired (but, remember, this is a soup so it shouldn?t be too sweet).

3. Push the soup through a fine sieve and chill for at least four hours.

4. Serve chilled and decorated with edible flower petals, if desired.

3. Chilled melon soup with Spanish ham (Gazpacho de mel?n con jam?n)

Serves: Four to six

Ingredients:

1 ripe rockmelon (cantaloupe or any orangefleshed melon), deseeded, coarsely chopped
juice of 1 lemon
4 slices Spanish ham, diced

1. Put the rockmelon into a food processor along with half of the lemon juice. Blend until smooth, taste and add more lemon juice if desired.

2. Chill for at least four hours.

3. Serve chilled, scattered with the ham.

These three chilled-soup recipes and images have been taken from My Barcelona Kitchen by Sophie Ruggles (?20), published by Murdoch Books. Cook and food writer Sophie Ruggles brings us over 140 traditional and original Spanish recipes, each with her own personal touch ? the book is available to buy on Amazon.

Source: http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/blogs/food--drink/barcelona-spanish-chilled-soup-recipes

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