Variations on gazpacho, the salad soup from Andalusia, are a summer favourite. Unless you are lucky enough to have intensely flavoured tomatoes available, a mix of vine and cherry tomatoes gives the best results. I like ringing the changes with the presentation - sometimes staying traditional with ramekins of diced ingredients to add to the table, but I particularly like a garnish of freshly picked white crab. This version is almost a meal in itself. When I'm not in Cornwall, I buy local Newlyn white and brown crab meat.
Recipe information
Yield
Serves 6
Ingredients
For the crab toast
Preparation
Method
Step 1
Peel then halve the cucumber lengthways. Scrape out the seeds using a teaspoon and roughly chop the flesh. Then finely chop the onion, celery and pepper, discarding the seeds and white filament.
Step 2
Whizz together the peeled garlic and torn bread to make fine crumbs in a processor. Put into a large bowl with the cucumber mix and set aside.
Step 3
Roughly chop the larger tomatoes, leaving the cherry tomatoes whole. Add both to a food processor bowl together with the vinegar, water, 100ml olive oil, 1/2tsp salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Liquidise for several minutes until smooth or until the desired consistency is achieved (you may need to do this in two batches). Add to the vegetable and breadcrumb mixture and mix well.
Step 4
Taste the soup and season with salt, pepper, the lemon juice and Tabasco. Whisk in 2tbsp more oil. Transfer to a serving bowl, cover with clingfilm and chill.
Step 5
Trim, split and scrape the seeds from the chillies. Dice finely, then place in a cup with 3tbsp oil and mix. Leave for a while.
Step 6
Mix the crab, prepared chilli and its oil, the juice of half a lemon and parsley. Taste, adding extra lemon juice and salt as needed. Cut 6 or more thick slices of the bread, toast and spread with butter, or spread both sides with butter and griddle until golden. Spread lavishly with crab. Ladle the soup into 6 bowls, swirl in the remaining 2tbsp extra-virgin olive oil and serve with the toast.
