Smoky Spanish Tomato Soup

Ever since my trip to Spain, I have been into all things Spanish. This includes wanting to make gazpacho, which I tried for the first time in a little cafe in Barcelona. The only thing in my way of whipping up this cold, tomatoey concoction was my lack of a food processor. I finally procured one of these bad boys during the holidays, and was on my way to finally making some gazpacho.

Today I had all of the proper ingredients in my possession to make rustic gazpacho. But then I started to question my decision to settle on this dish. After all, it is January, and this soup is traditionally consumed in Andalusia during the hot summer months. On the other hand, I thought, I really do like this soup and it is quite healthy, too: who cares about the weather or what so-called tradition dictates? Plus, I have some nice sherry vinegar -- a key ingredient for authentic gazpacho -- in my cupboard that's just waiting to be used.

Well, in the end, gazpacho did not win. For now, I have put off preparing it until my part of the Earth warms up a bit. But it took another recipe to really confirm my decision. When I saw the now defunct Gourmet Magazine's recipe for Smoky Spanish Tomato Soup via epicurious, I had a near religious epiphany that left me with no doubts: this was my soup! It's Spanish, it's tomato-based, and it's served hot! What more could I ask for?

Like Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Greens, this tomato soup has a smooth texture and creamy taste with containing any dairy. Bread crumbs (I used small bits of ciabatta bread) blended with the tomato mix in the food processor give the soup a heartiness, making it suitable as a modest meal on its own. I also topped the soup with pulled pieces of the bread for presentation and because who doesn't like dipping chunky, crusty bread in soup? The recipe calls for sweet pimenton (Spanish for smoked paprika) but I only had smoked hot paprika and substituted with it.

The result? An incredible smoky flavor that adds so much body to the soup.

Smoky Spanish Tomato Soup adapted from Gourmet


Ingredients:


4 1/2 lbs of tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
roughly 1 teaspoon of sweet (or smoked hot) pimenton
3 large garlic gloves, peeled
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
approximately 1/2 cup of coarse bread crumbs (I eye-balled this and it turned out fine) plus more for garnish
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper


Preparation:


1. Cut an X on the bottom of each tomato. Then blanch the tomatoes.  Peels and seed tomatoes, then coarsely chop them.


2. Cook onion and bell peppers in oil with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a wide 5-quart heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 15 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, pimentón, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are tender and falling apart, about 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, crush garlic to a paste with cumin using a mortar and pestle (or crush cumin with side of a heavy knife, mince and mash garlic, and stir together). Stir garlic-cumin paste and bread crumbs into tomato mixture. Purée soup in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth and return to cleaned pot. Thin to desired consistency with water and season with the sea salt and black pepper. Top bowls with ripped pieces of bread/bread crumbs and serve!