Gazpacho with cherries

As every year, during the next four months I'm going to eat gazpacho over and over again, because only this ice-cold soup can help me to survive the unbearably hot and humid days in our apartment without air conditioning:). When almost ten years ago I tried for the first time the traditional gazpacho, and it was in aforementioned on the blog Andalusian village Laujar de Andarax, not even for a moment did it cross my mind that there were so many variants of this delicious cold soup. So far, you can find on my Polish blog not only the recipe for traditional gazpacho, but also for one with beet, pumpkin or watermelon. Today, however, it's time for gazpacho with cherries based on the recipe, which I found on the website of a popular Spanish chef Martin Berasategui.

Ingredients (serves 4):

1 kg ripe tomatoes

25 g onion

10 g green pepper

150 g white bread, crust removed

1/2 small garlic clove

50 ml extra virgin olive oil

10 ml balsamic vinegar

200 g cherries, pitted

salt

for garnish:

whole cherries

basil

melon (optional)

Method:

Boil water in medium saucepan. As soon as the water boils, turn off heat and place the tomatoes into the hot water for 1 minute. Carefully remove hot tomatoes and peel them - the skin will rub off easily. Dice them and put into a bowl. Add diced pepper and onion, minced garlic, bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Mix well and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. In the meantime, pit the cherries. 

Put the tomato mixture into a blender and mix gently. Once you have a smooth consistency, add pitted cherries, a pinch of salt and mix again until smooth. 

If you want the soup to have smoother consistency pour it through a sieve - I normally skip this step. Refrigerate until cold. Serve with whole cherries, basil leaves and optionally with pieces of melon.

  

Enjoy !!!