Late Summer Garden Gazpacho
with Sherry Vinegar, Pomegranate Molasses & Olive Oil
A deeply chilled gazpacho of sun-ripened tomatoes, sweet red pepper, cucumber and red onion, blended with Andalusian sherry vinegar and a generous pour of extra virgin olive oil. A touch of pomegranate molasses — our little secret — rounds the acidity without making it sweet.
Finished with fresh garden herbs and served with grilled bread for dipping.
SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS
For the gazpacho
1.5 kg very ripe summer tomatoes, roughly chopped or quartered for blending
150 g red pepper, roughly chopped
½ cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
½ small red onion, roughly chopped
1 small garlic clove
60 ml / ¼ cup sherry vinegar, to taste
150 ml / generous ½ cup Soleá Ritual extra virgin olive oil
1–2 tsp pomegranate molasses, to taste
Fine sea salt
Optional
Fresh red chilli, to taste
To finish
A few ripe tomatoes, nicely diced
A little cucumber, finely chopped
Fresh basil
Fresh mint
Fresh cilantro / coriander
Soleá Ritual extra virgin olive oil
Flaky sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
For the grilled bread
1 baguette or focaccia
Soleá Ritual extra virgin olive oil
Flaky sea salt
METHOD
1. Blend.
Place the tomatoes, red pepper, cucumber, red onion and garlic in a blender.
Add fresh chilli now if you like a little heat.
Blend until very smooth.
Add the sherry vinegar, a generous pinch of sea salt and 1 teaspoon of pomegranate molasses. Blend again.
2. Emulsify with the olive oil.
With the blender running, slowly pour in the olive oil.
Continue blending until completely emulsified and the gazpacho becomes silky, glossy and slightly lighter in colour.
Now taste.
Add more sherry vinegar if it needs acidity, more salt if the tomatoes taste flat, and another little spoonful of pomegranate molasses if the acidity needs rounding.
The pomegranate molasses shouldn't make the gazpacho taste sweet. It's there to bring the tomatoes, vinegar and olive oil into balance.
3. Strain — or don't.
For an exceptionally smooth gazpacho, pass it through a sieve.
If you love the texture straight from your blender, leave it alone. Both are good.
Here at Soleá, e enjoy the texture and the thickness.
4. Chill.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 2–3 hours, preferably longer.
This matters.
Gazpacho should be very, very cold.
Taste it again once chilled. Cold dulls seasoning slightly, so it may need another pinch of salt or splash of sherry vinegar before serving.
5. Grill the bread.
Slice the baguette or focaccia in larger pieces.
Drizzle with olive oil and grill over charcoal, on a barbecue or in a hot grill pan until crisp at the edges with a few properly charred spots.
Finish with flaky sea salt.
6. Serve.
Finely chop the basil, mint and cilantro together.
Pour the deeply chilled gazpacho into cold bowls. Spoon a little chopped tomato and cucumber into the centre and scatter generously with the fresh herbs.
Finish with black pepper, flaky sea salt and a generous glug of Soleá Ritual extra virgin olive oil.
Serve immediately with the warm grilled baguette alongside.
THE SECRET
Some gazpacho recipes use sugar or honey to soften the acidity of the tomatoes and vinegar.
I use pomegranate molasses.
It brings a subtle depth and fruitiness while rounding the sharper edges of the gazpacho. You shouldn't necessarily be able to identify it — you should simply notice that everything tastes more complete.
Start small and taste.
The tomatoes decide how much you need.
ABOUT THE VINEGAR
Use a good Andalusian sherry vinegar — Vinagre de Jerez — if you can.
If you don't have sherry vinegar at home, a good-quality red wine vinegar is the easiest substitute. Begin with less, taste and adjust.
Avoid balsamic here. Between its sweetness and distinctive flavour, it changes the character of the gazpacho too much.
CHEF'S NOTE
Don't get too attached to the measurements once everything is in the blender.
The quantities here are a guide rather than a rule. Tomatoes vary enormously in sweetness, acidity and water content, and gazpacho is the kind of recipe that should adapt to what you have.
Chop. Blend. Taste. Chill.
That's really all there is to it.
A good gazpacho is about balance, and summer tomatoes change from one day to the next.
Taste for tomato first, then salt, acidity and finally that tiny touch of sweetness from the pomegranate molasses.
And don't be shy with the olive oil. Blending it into the tomatoes is what gives the gazpacho its beautiful body and silky texture.
FROM THE GARDEN
Make this when the tomatoes are almost getting ahead of you.
The split ones. The overripe ones. The imperfect ones that are too soft for slicing but taste intensely of summer.
Add peppers, cucumber, onion and herbs from the garden if you have them, blend everything until silky and put it in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
Summer, served very cold.
A FORGIVING RECIPE
Don't worry if you have 1.3 kg of tomatoes instead of 1.5 kg, half a pepper instead of a whole one, or only a small piece of cucumber left in the refrigerator.
Use what you have.
The important part is the balance: ripe tomato should lead, the vegetables should bring freshness, the vinegar should give brightness, and enough olive oil should be blended through to make everything silky.
Start conservatively with the vinegar, salt and pomegranate molasses, then taste your way there.
If it's too thick, add a splash of cold water. or an ice cube or two.
If it tastes flat, it probably wants salt.
If it needs brightness, add sherry vinegar.
If the acidity feels a little sharp, add a touch more pomegranate molasses.
And if it needs richness, give it another glug of olive oil.
Then chill it properly and give a good mix before serving it.
FROM ANDALUCÍA
In Andalucía, gazpacho isn't reserved for restaurants or special occasions. In summer, it is simply part of the rhythm of eating — kept cold in the refrigerator, poured into a bowl or glass whenever the heat calls for it.
Use your beautiful ceramic dishes for this, it calls for hand made, artisan, soulful serving pieces.
To Serve — The Ritual Moment
Pour generously.
Serve with grilled focaccia while still warm and torn apart and drenched with olive oil.
Eat slowly, share together and enjoy the slow afternoons wherever you are.
xx
