Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 1 thick slice white bread, crusts removed
• 2 1/4 pounds ripe plum tomatoes
• 1 red or green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 4 pieces
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste
• 2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar or wine vinegar, or more to taste
• 6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, or to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. sugar, or more to taste

For the optional garnish:

• 1/2 cucumber, finely diced
• 1/2 red onion or 4 scallions, finely chopped
• 1/2 red or green bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 to 2 slices of white bread, cut into small cubes and lightly toasted

Directions

Dry the slice of bread under the broiler, without browning it, turning it once. Break it up into pieces.

Quarter the tomatoes and remove the hard white bits at the stem end.

Blend the bell pepper to a paste in a food processor. Add the rest of the soup ingredients and blend to a light cream. Add a little cold water if necessary to thin the gazpacho—about 1/2 to 2/3 cup. Pour into a serving bowl and chill in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap, for at least an hour or for up to a day.

Check the seasoning, and serve the gazpacho in soup bowls, accompanied, if you like, by the garnishes. Pass them around, each type in a separate little plate or in four piles in a large serving plate.

VARIATION

Add 1/2 cucumber, peeled and cut into pieces, and blend with the rest of the ingredients.