Salmorejo-Spanish tomato-almond soup

Salmorejo-Spanish chilled tomato-almond soup

I first had Salmorejo in Madrid at the home of a dear friend’s parents. It was quite a hot October day and the beautiful coral colored chilled soup was a welcome respite from the heat. I immediately fell in love this soup, so creamy, rich and flavorful despite not containing a bit of dairy. I asked the hostess if she would share the recipe with me and she graciously obliged. Here is her recipe with a few tweaks of my own. Please use toasted Spanish Marcona Almonds for the best flavor and let it chill in the fridge for a good 4-6 hours to make sure it’s very cold and allow the flavors to meld. If making this recipe vegetarian or vegan just garnish with chives and olive oil. 

Soup:

3-4 pounds/ 1.5K of ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 medium red onion, peeled and coarsely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, peeled 

1 cup of toasted Spanish Marcona almonds

1T sweet smoked Spanish paprika

1/4C /60 ml sherry vinegar

1/2 cup/ 120 ml extra virgin olive oil

2 cups of day old ciabatta or baguette, crust cut off and cubed and soaked in warm water for 5 minutes then squeezed dry.

Approximately 2 cups of water

Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:

3-4 oz/ 100g jamón Serrano or jamón iberico torn into large bite sized pieces (if not vegan or vegetarian)

2 finely chopped hard boiled eggs (If not vegan)

1/2 cup finely minced chives

Edible flowers

Extra virgin olive oil

• Place all of the ingredients except for the water, salt and pepper in a large bowl and stir to combine. 
• Working in batches, add the ingredients to a blender and purée at top speed using some of the water until a smooth, coral colored, emulsified mixture is achieved. 
• Pour the blended soup into a separate bowl and continue with batches of ingredients until all is blended and in the second bowl. Stir well to combine the batches and add salt and pepper to taste. The soup should be a bit on the salty side as it will be served very cold and that tends to deaden any seasoning. Also taste for vinegar as you may need to add a bit more. The soup should have a tang but not be sour.  
• To serve: ladle the soup into chilled bowls and place a few pieces of the jamón on top of the soup along with a spoonful of the chopped egg and chives. Drizzle a bit of the olive oil over the soup and serve immediately. Enjoy!