Roasted vegetable gazpacho soup

A new interpretation of a classic dish combining traditional raw ingredients with oven roasted vegetables. This adds extra richness to the soup and will take time and patience, but it is well worth the effort. We have prepared the recipe in two steps, the roasted and the raw.

• serves

  4-6

Ingredients

The roasted

5 red capsicums

Olive oil for cooking

10 ripe tomatoes

1 onion, peeled and quartered

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 red chilli

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

The raw

1/2 cucumber

5 tomatoes   

1 green capsicum

1/2 cup shredded basil

500ml (2 cups) vegetable stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

125ml (1/2 cup) olive oil   

Shredded basil to garnish

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Instructions

The roasted

Preheat oven to 200C. Rub capsicums with oil. Place in a baking tray and roast until skins blister, approx 30 minutes. Put tomatoes, onion, chilli and garlic in another baking tray, toss with oil, salt and pepper and roast at the same temperature until soft, about 30 minutes.

Allow all vegetables to cool. Set aside 2 capsicums for later use. Remove and discard seeds and skins from tomatoes and capsicum. Puree the tomato, capsicum, onion, garlic and chilli with cooking juices. Pass through a sieve and refrigerate.

The raw

Remove the skin and seeds from the cucumber, dice finely and place in a colander with salt and set aside to drain.

Remove the eyes from the tomatoes and cut a cross into the base with a knife. Blanch in boiling water for 10 seconds; refresh in cold water immediately. Peel and quarter tomatoes, remove seeds and dice remaining flesh finely, 2mm. Dice green capsicum to the same size. Take the reserved roasted capsicums, remove skins and seeds, and dice the flesh same size as a tomato. Rinse cucumber and pat dry.

In a large bowl mix the pureed roasted vegetables, the diced vegetables, the olive oil and herbs. Add enough stock to adjust the consistency, remembering the soup will get thicker when it’s chilled. Check seasoning.

Place the soup and serving bowls in the freezer for one hour before serving. Pour soup into bowls and garnish with the shredded basil.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.