No cooking, lots of fresh vegetables, a bit of preparation time and this Gazpacho soup serves four on a sultry summer’s day.
Pop the bread cubes into a mixing bowl, pour over the tomato juice and leave to soak for 5 minutes, then mash so they are saturated. Put the mashed bread cubes into a food mixer/blender with some of the tomato juice and add the cucumber, peppers, onion, garlic and tomatoes and blend until smooth. Pour this mixture into the mixing bowl with the remaining tomato juice.
Add the oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and herbs. Mix well until you have the consistency of single cream. Add more tomato juice if need be. Pour into a soup tureen or serving bowl and chill for an hour. Just before you serve give it all a good stir and drop in some ice cubes. Serve with croutons, hard-boiled egg, chopped cucumber, onions and olives and some nice crusty bread.