Bhagya


If the weather ever warms up, this famous cold soup from the south of Spain is a delicious way to enjoy the produce from your garden in elegant style.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 sweet onion
1 kg very ripe tomatoes
2 red capsicums
2 Lebanese cucumbers, peeled
1 large clove garlic
Handful of basil leaves
2 tblspns sherry (or balsamic) vinegar
1/4 cup of olive oil
3/4 tspn fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 hot red chilli, deseeded (optional)

Method:
Chop onion, tomatoes, capsicums and cucumbers into pieces. Place all the onion and half of the remaining veggies in a food processor (or mouli) with the garlic, chilli, basil, olive oil and vinegar. Blend until smooth. Add the remaining vegetables and pulse until they are incorporated but retaining some small chunks for texture. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cover and refrigerate until well chilled. Check the seasoning before serving.
You can peel and deseed your tomatoes and/or roast and peel the capsicums if you want a smoother, more elegant soup. You will need to add a few more tomatoes than indicated if you do this.
If you want you can reserve a few of the veggies and chop into small dice for a garnish as it looks lovely on top of the bowl, or add a few torn basil leaves. Some people like to add aioli, yoghurt or garlic croutons! As you like it …