30 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 4
About the recipe
Inspired by my travels around the Med, this silky-smooth and refreshing chilled summer soup showcases beautiful seasonal veg and includes two of your 7-a-day. Simply pop it all in the blender and whiz up. Prefer it hot? No problem. It works just as well warmed through. Serve with the smashed bean toasts for the perfect summer dish – just add sunshine!
Ingredients
360g ripe tomatoes
2 red peppers
1 small red onion
1 clove of garlic
1 rustic baguette (240g)
red wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
1 x 400g tin of haricot beans
olive oil
½ a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (15g)
Top Tip
This recipe is perfect for using up stale bread and tomatoes that are on the squidgy side (they’ll actually have lots of flavour).
Method
- Halve the tomatoes, removing any tough cores, and pop them into a blender. Deseed both peppers, keep half a pepper aside for garnish, then roughly chop and add the rest to the blender. Peel and halve the onion and garlic. Roughly chop half the onion and add to the blender with half the garlic, reserving the rest for later.
- Trim the ends off the baguette and add them to the blender (this will give the soup a creamy texture) with 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and 3 to 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Whiz for 30 seconds, or until silky-smooth (I like to add a big handful of ice cubes to make it super-fresh and cold), then season to taste with sea salt, black pepper and a little extra red wine vinegar, if you like. Chill until needed.
- Finely chop the reserved pepper and onion, add to a bowl with a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, then scrunch together and leave to lightly pickle.
- Slice up and toast the remaining baguette in a dry non-stick frying pan on a medium heat, then remove to a platter and rub all over with the cut-side of the reserved garlic clove.
- Pour the beans (juices and all) into the hot pan, mashing slightly as you go to create creaminess. Turn the heat down to low, season, then stir through 1 tablespoon of the juice from the quick pickle and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Simmer gently for about 5 minutes, or until thickened, then spoon over the toasts.
- Pick, finely chop and sprinkle the parsley over the toasts, along with the pickle. Pour the soup into bowls, then float a couple of toasts on top of each and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, if you like.
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