Three Spanish recipes with tomato

Spain is a mosaic of different cultures and local cuisine is the reflection. The large variety of meals is also due to the geography of the country with high mountains and tropical islands. Arguably the best thing about Spanish food is that it is easy to make and surprisingly tasty. Here are three recipes for starters made with tomato. Light and fresh, they are a perfect choice for the hot summer days.

Gazpacho Andaluz

Gazpacho used to be a simple garlic soup before the discovery of the New world. After Columbus came back from his voyage the recipe was enhanced with tomato, cucumber and pepper. Empress Eugénie de Montijo, a Spanish noblewoman and a wife to Napoleon III, introduced the fresh tomato soup in the French court in the 19^th century. Nowadays this dish is popular all around the world because it is delicious and easy to make.

Ingredients (for the soup):

• 1 kg ripen tomatoes
• 1 green pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 100 g bread crumbles
• 150 ml olive oil
• 3 Ts white wine vinegar
• Salt

Ingredients (for garnishing):

• 50 g onion
• 1 tomato
• 50 g green pepper
• 50 g cucumber
• 50 g croutons

Method 

Peel the tomatoes: first make an X shape into the skin using a sharp knife, put them into hot water for 1-2 minutes and then remove the skin. Cut the pepper into cubes. Wet the bread crumbs using 150 ml of water and drain the excess. Put all ingredients into a blender and pulse a few times until you get a fine purée. Add salt to taste and let the mixture cool in the fridge for a few hours.

Serve the soup together with some finely chopped onion, croutons and tomato, pepper and cucumber cut into cubes. Enjoy your home-made tomato soup.

Baked tomatoes

This is one of the simplest Mediterranean recipes. The baked tomatoes are usually served for starter together with bread and olive oil. They are equally delicious both warm and cooled.

Ingredients:

• 500 g tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 Ts parsley
• 3 Ts water
• 1 Ts bread crumbs
• Olive oil
• Milled red pepper
• Salt

Method

Cut the tomatoes into 1 cm thick circles or in halves depending on their size. Put them into an oiled baking dish and sprinkle some salt.

Pound the garlic, finely chopped parsley and salt using pestle and mortar. Add water to the mixture and spread it out evenly over the tomatoes. Sprinkle some milled red pepper and bread crumbs. Bake the potatoes for 15-20 minutes. Top them with fruit vinegar and serve.

Bread with tomato

Home-made bread, coated with tomato juice and the most precious balm – olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt, is the essence of Catalonian cuisine. The process of making it described in an incredibly poetical manner in the book “The art of Spanish cuisine”. It sounds more like something divine rather than a culinary recipe. You can imagine what a “miracle” it was for people to turn their dry bread into fresh, tomato-flavoured slices.

Ingredients:

• Bread
• Ripen tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Sea salt
• Cheese (optional)

Method

Cut the bread into 1,5 cm thick slices. Halve the tomatoes and coat each slice in juice on both sides. The bread needs to get a reddish tint. Add some salt and olive oil to taste.

You can also put cheese on top. I coated the bread slices with olive oil and baked them for 15 minutes at 200^oC to get them extra crispy. Then, I savoured them in the company of the baked tomatoes from the previous recipe.

Try this outstanding recipe for traditional tortilla de patatas if you appreciate Spanish cuisine. This is one of the most popular culinary temptations and it goes perfectly with all three tomato-based starters in this post.