Serves: 6-8

Prep: 30 min plus at least 4 hours, preferably 24, chilling

3 large new season garlic cloves

150g day-old white bread, preferably country-style

1 cucumber

1 red chilli

2 red peppers, preferably the pointed, “extra-sweet” type

1kg tomatoes, including a proportion of Jersey Jewel or other full-flavoured cherry tomatoes

1 large red onion

2 tbsp sherry or wine vinegar

About 20 small mint leaves

100ml extra virgin olive oil plus 2 tbsp extra

3 plum or vine tomatoes

1 lemon

Tabasco sauce

Method

Peel the garlic. Tear the bread into pieces. Place both in the bowl of a food processor and blitz to make fine breadcrumbs. Meanwhile, peel the cucumber. Halve it horizontally and use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds. Chop half of it roughly. Trim and split the chilli. Scrape out the seeds. Set aside half a red pepper and chop the rest, discarding seeds and white filament. Peel and halve the onion. Coarsely chop one half and add to the breadcrumbs with the chopped cucumber, chilli and chopped red pepper. Remove the stalks from the 1kg tomatoes. Roughly chop regular tomatoes, leave cherry tomatoes whole. Add the tomatoes to the food processor bowl with the vinegar, 300ml ice-cold water, most of the mint, the 100ml olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and a generous seasoning of black pepper. Blitz for several minutes until liquidised (you may need to do this in two batches). Meanwhile prepare the garnishes. Keeping separate piles, finely dice the remaining cucumber and red pepper and finely chop the remaining red onion. Quarter the plum or vine tomatoes, discard the seeds and finely chop. Taste the gazpacho and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, lemon juice and Tabasco. If you think the soup needs it - it makes it very creamy - whisk in the extra olive oil. Transfer to a serving bowl and chill until required, at least 4 hours.

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