Smoky Salmorejo (Spanish Tomato-Bread Soup) Perfect for Summer and Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I probably should have saved this salmorejo recipe for another month or so, when the humidity sets in and even I, who eats soup all year long, begin to crave cold soups instead of hot. But salmorejo has been on my mind since "tall shot glasses" of this cold Spanish tomato-bread soup was mentioned in Mystic Summer by Hannah McKinnon. Although I ultimately (and very happily) made crab cakes for my book review food pairing, I also wanted salmorejo and I happened to have this recipe for Smoky Salmorejo pinned from Food & Wine. Once I saw a basket of ripe and plump red Roma tomatoes in the locally grown section of my local grocery store, I knew it had to be this weekend's soup.  

Salmorejo is sometimes referred to as "blended gazpacho" but it deserves its own fame because it is so much more. Thick, creamy and not quite as sharp or aggressive as gazpacho can be, it makes for a wonderful starter or a light lunch. By nature it is vegan and if you use gluten-free bread, it can easily be a GF choice too. This recipe was topped off with sweet green grapes and smoked almonds, but if you aren't eating vegan, salmorejo is lovely topped with chopped hard-boiled egg, little strips of serrano ham or prosciutto, or even a large shrimp or prawn or two. (Here's an earlier version of this soup from 2009 that I posted showing some alternative toppings.)  

I made a couple of small changes to the recipe and process--noted in red below.

Smoky Salmorejo (Spanish Tomato-Bread Soup)
Slightly Adapted from Food & Wine Magazine via online
(Serves 4)

2 lbs tomatoes, halved crosswise (I used local Roma tomatoes)
4 (1-inch-thick) slices of white bread, crusts removed and bread cubed (about 1 1/2 cups) (I used gluten free bread)
1/4 tsp finely grated garlic
1 Tbsp sherry vinegar
1/4 cup smoked olive oil, plus more for drizzling 
(I added 1 tsp liquid smoke) 
kosher salt (& black pepper) to taste
seedless green grapes, thinly sliced 
roasted almonds, chopped

Using a box grater, coarsely grate the cut sides of the tomato halves over a medium bowl until all that remains are the tomato skins; discard the skins. Add the bread cubes and toss with the tomatoes. Transfer the tomato mixture to a food processor and let stand for 15 minutes until the bread is soft. 
  
Pulse the tomato mixture with the grated garlic and vinegar until smooth. With the machine on, gradually add in the 1/4 cup of smoked olive oil. 
   
Strain the salmorejo through a fine sieve into a large bowl and season with salt. Cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 1 hour or overnight. (Note: I used my Vita-mix instead of a food processor and felt like the soup did not need sieving.)
   
Serve the soup in bowls and garnish with the grapes, almonds and a drizzle of smoked olive oil. (Note: I mixed about 1/4 tsp liquid smoke with 1 Tbsp olive oil and used that for my drizzle.) 

Notes/Results: Creamy and full of smoky tomato flavor, this is a great little soup. You can't beat the fact that there is no cooking involved and that it goes together so quickly and easily. The most time consuming part is grating the tomatoes, the rest is just adding a few ingredients--especially if you use a high-power blender, you won't need to do the final straining step. Because I didn't have smoked olive oil, I used a little liquid smoke, which worked great, or you could also use smoked paprika. I would definitely make it again.

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of some (or all) of the entries the following week. 

(If you are not familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.)

Here's a recap of the delicious dishes from last week's Souper (Soup, Salad, & Sammie) Sundays roundup.  

Debra of Eliot's Eats shared these decadent and unique Grilled Cheese with Bread and Butter Pickles and says, "I’m not really presenting a recipe here, but let me tell you how good these sandwiches are. I used some good sourdough bread, rubbed the outside slices with olive oil, slapped on a slab of Velveeta (yes Velveeta), and sprinkled on a good quantity of bread and butter pickles. I totally recognize that Velveeta is a artery-clogging man-made cheese-like product and definitely not a superfood, but let me tell you that ooey-gooey warm cheese will make you nostalgic for comfort food of your youth."

Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog made one of my favorites, Asparagus Soup and says, "No matter what the season, I enjoy a hot bowl of soup especially recipes like this asparagus soup that are fast, easy, seasonal and tasty. This delicious rich green soup can be whipped up in just 20 minutes from start to finish. If you like Asparagus, you'll love this flavorful soup!"

 

Vicki of I'd Rather Be At The Beach made brothy Crock Pot Chicken Thighs with Vegetables and said, "This was SO good! The seasoning on the thighs stuck really well and I thought it was perfect. If you don’t like your food really spicy you might want to cut back a little on the seasonings. The chicken was mostly falling apart and it was all very tender. You could eat the chicken and vegetables without the broth, but I added quite a bit and it was more like a soup or stew."

  
Thanks to everyone for linking up last week!

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you.

On your entry post (on your blog):

• please mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post.
• you are welcome to add the wonderful Souper Sundays logo (created by Ivy at Kopiaste) to your post and/or blog (optional).

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Please practice love, grace, and kindness this week and always!
 
"Have a happy, healthy week!" is my usual Sunday sendoff, but this week I would be remiss not to mention that my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Orlando and especially those killed or injured in the mass shooting this weekend and their families and friends. I plan to put all of the love and goodness that I can out into the world and I hope you will join me. We need to do everything we can to not let hate and evil win. 

With much love and aloha,