Gazpaccho with garden tomatoes

It is best, when it is raw. Sad that it does not last long.

Summer is here and if you did not the heat with the soaring temperatures, I hope crates full of sun kissed vegetables gets you in the mood. The lettuce, spinach, sprouts, limes, lemons and green garlic and onions. But nothing looks, or smells for that matter, better than tomatoes. They come in all shapes, colors and sizes. There are the sweet cherry tomatoes and the plump ones on the vine and the classically pretty, heirloom tomatoes. The best part of course is that the tomatoes grow sugary sweet as the summer turns on its heat.

They are cheap now. They will be dirt cheap later on. But the best is when you grown em'. For less than 10$,  I am growing tomatoes on my terrace. 

What really inspired this bout of tomato gardening (more like harvesting), is my fling with ...no not salad. I love salads. But salads did not inspire my tomato gardening. A cold soup did.
It is called Gazpacho.
If you haven't already guessed from the way it sounds, it is Spanish in origin. And like all things red, the Spanish people knows what to do with red juicy stuff, even a crate of summer ripe red tomatoes. They squeeze it, squish it, drizzle some oil and serve it with a squirt of lime and sea salt. 

We are still talking about the cold soup. 

It was last summer when I first had a gazpacho. It was at a cafe in Cambridge. Called cafe Pamplona. And ever since that time, I have become quite fanatic about the cold, well made gazpachos. But I realized that the really nice soups needed home grown tomatoes. And that is why this summer, I am growing my very own tomato on the vines.

Till my tomatoes ripen, of course the farmer's market is doing great. Head over to your nearest, pick the reddest, juiciest and sweetest (usually small) tomatoes and get going with the blender. You don't to waste the summer not doing this soup. It will not be the same a few months down the line :)

Cold Gazpacho

1 lb of fresh tomatoes.

1 cucumber

2 cloves of garlic

1 medium onion

1/2 cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil. You must use Spanish. I am joking. But use really good quality, preferably fruity extra virgin Olive oil. I like Turkish olive oils in this.

Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper.
Drizzle of lime juice

In a blender, puree together the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, garlic and olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper. Chill for at least 2-3 hours. You must. Serve with an extra drizzle of olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and a dash of lime juice. A slice of bread, toasted, drizzled with olive olive oil and garnished with sea salt work wonders as a nibble on. A glass of red is not bad.

Happy eating and healthy living!