The first time I had
salmorejo, I was at Manolo's parents beach house. It was the first meal that I had ever eaten with his family, and Manolo's Dad (who speaks no English and has a thick accent that I just can't understand when he speaks Spanish) pushed a HUGE bowl of a reddish soup in front of me and insisted that I eat it. I HATE gazpacho and this very much resembled gazpacho (cold, red, tomato based) so needless to say I really didn't want to eat it but I took a chunk of bread and dipped it in the cold soup as instructed. YUMMY! Seriously very yummy. For the rest of the weekend at every meal I had a bowl of salmorejo with bread and when I came home it was one of the foods that I craved desperately. I have been meaning to make salmorejo for the past 4 months but I've been intimidated. A week ago for the first time I attempted my first batch and I really wish that I had tried to make it earlier because it really is a simple recipe and so very yummy. The taste is very unique and the flavor of the tomatoes are very light (which is a great thing if you are a tomato hater like me). Usually salmorejo is served alongside boiled eggs and jamon but for me I just eat it by dipping bread.
1 kilo (about 2 pounds) tomatoes (very ripe, on the vine)
2 cloves of garlic
2 large loaves of white bread (french is fine)
1 tbsp vinegar
4 tbsp olive oil
sea salt (regular salt is fine)
1. Cut the crust off one of the loaves of bread. This doesn't need to be very precise. Just take a big knife and cut off the crust all around the loaf.
2. Cut the tomatoes in quarters and dice in a blender along with the garlic, vinegar, and olive oil.
3. Add chunks of the de-crusted bread to the blender until the soup has a very thick consistency.
4. Add a bit of salt and more olive oil to taste.
5. Chill the salmorejo in the fridge but you can be like me and eat immediately. Use the crusted loaf of bread to dip into the salmorejo and eat. Garnish with boiled eggs, onions, and jamon if desired.
