Recipe for a sunny day

If you are among the lucky ones to enjoy a real summer, then this recipe is for you. If above that, you are also a vegetarian, then I am sure that this will be a love at first sight. And if you are on a diet, then please save this recipe in a safe place, as it is light, full of flavour and will transform your diet into a real treat.

Gazpacho is ususally is served cold and traditionally is made of tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, onions, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt and stale bread. In my interpretation, I took out the cucumber, the garlic and the vinegar, and instead I added a half of red chilli pepper, some freshly ground green peppercorns, fresh basil and tarragon. The stale bread was replaced by a home-made sun dried tomatoes sourdough and for garnish I used some Kalamata olives. The result was a very spicy soup, with strong basil and tarragon flavours which complemented the rich taste of ripe tomatoes and yellow pepper. I like my gazpacho well chilled and sometimes I like to add a few ice cubes, just for a bit of more refreshing taste.

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Basil and tarragon gazpacho

Ingredients

2 yellow peppers
6 ripe tomatoes
2 shallots
half of red chili pepper deseeded
200 ml water
fresh basil chopped (one tablespoon)
fresh tarragon chopped (one tablespoon)
freshly ground green peppercorns
sea salt

for serving:

some extra basil leaves
4 teaspoons of good quality extra virgin olive oil
20 kalamata olives optional
8 ice cubes optional
sun dried tomato sourdough optional

Instructions

Peel the tomatoes (is easier if you cover them in hot water for 2 minutes then place them on ice cold water) and cut them into quarters. Deseed the peppers and roughly chop them. Peel the onion and cut it into quarters. Deseed and chop the chile.
Add all the vegetables into a bowl, add the basil and tarragon, season with salt and pepper, and leave them to rest in the fridge for an hour - an hour and a half, so that all the flavours come together.
Mix all the ingredients into a food procesor, gradually adding the water until you get a creamy consistency.
For serving, pour the soup into large bowls, garnish with fresh basil leaves, some kalamata olives and sprinkle a few drops of extra virgin olive oil.
For a cooler note, add 2 ice cubes just before serving. Serve your gazpacho with sun dried tomato sourdough and a glass of wine.