Salmorejo cordobés (Spanish Creamy Cold Tomato Soup)

This is another traditional Spanish recipe that I want to share with you.

This cold creamy tomato soup is ideal for the summer, although my family always love it, no matter the season.

It can be served in many ways: as single dish, on toast, in small glasses as aperitif, as canape over toasted bread rounds, as sauce for dipping with fried eggplant sticks, etc etc...

Salmorejo is originating in Córdoba, Spain, but it’s so popular that is a symbol of the Andalusian gastronomy.

The traditional recipe is made with extra virgin olive oil, but we prefer for salmorejo a  refined olive oil, with a flavor less strong and less bitter. It’s a matter of personal taste, you can try and see which kind of olive oil  you prefer.

Salmorejo cordobés (Spanish Creamy Cold Tomato Soup)

Ingredients (4 servings)

2,2  lbs (1 kg) ripe tomatoes, they must be of good quality.

5,3 oz (150g) baguette or white bread, stale

1 large clove garlic

10 tablespoon (150 ml) olive oil

Vinegar of White wine, a few drops. Traditional recipe has not vinegar.

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper, to taste

Garnish

2 large hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped

Iberian ham (Spanish cured ham) or substitute prosciutto - diced

Croutons (small pieces of bread, fried in olive oil)

Directions

Hard boil the eggs (10 minutes after starting the water to boil ). Place in  cold water to cool them, drain and keep in the fridge until serving.

Peel and cut the garlic and the tomatoes into quarters and place them in a blender or food processor. Add salt to taste and process until smooth.

Cut off hard crust from bread, only if it is very hard (I didn’t), then cut into pieces with your hands and place in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, the vinegar if you decide to add it, and a pinch of ground black pepper if you want.

Finally add to the bowl the blended tomato through  a strainer (to remove peels and seeds) and let the bread soak. 

Blend everything together until you have a smooth thick soup. Taste it and add more salt if necessary.

If mixture is too thick, thin it with a little of cold water while processing or more tomato if you have.

If mixture is too thin, add more stale bread.

Finally blend to mix all well.

Refrigerate until serving.

When ready to serve dice iberian ham. 
Peel and dice hard boiled eggs.

Pour soup into bowls, sprinkle ham and egg over bowls and finally add some croutons and enjoy!