richard What could herald the arrival of summer more than a big bowl of cold soup. Wasps perhaps. Or possibly sharing the big bowl of cold soup with a wasp. A wasp in shorts. Anyway, if you’ve bothered to read the posts below, you’ll know I am intimately familiar with the red, tomato-based gazpacho, however, up until now have never tried the green avocado-based variety.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: none (although you’ll need to allow a few hours for chilling)
Skill level: Easy
Serves: 2 main or 4 starter
Ingredients
- 4 large ripe avocados
- stale white bread – crust removed – 75g
- 1-2 spring onions
- 1 small green pepper
- 1/2 cucumber – peeled
- olive oil – 4 tbsp
- lemon juice – 5 tbsp
- chilled water – about 500 ml
- 1 red pepper – roasted
- s & p
Soak the stale in water for 5-10 minutes and squeeze dry.
Put the bread, avocado pulp, onion, green pepper and about 2 tsp salt in a food processor and blitz until smooth.
With the machine still running, slowly add the oil, lemon juice and some of the water.
Pour into a suitable bowl, mix in the remaining water and chill for at least 2 hours.
Roast the red pepper, peel, chop and allow to cool.
Ladle into bowls and add the red pepper garnish.
Verdict: A rich, creamy, subtle soup. There are many variations of this recipe out there, so experiment.
Drink: A delicious and tart home-made lemonade.
Entertainment: ’24’, series one, 23:00. Ridiculous and exciting in equal measures.
