Extra virgin olive oil as a main ingredient
As a main ingredient, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) shines through with all its fresh and fruity flavours while creating luxurious textures, and nothing showcases this flavour superpower more than in Salmorejo, a chilled classic from Andalucia. There's just so much more you can do with great quality EVOO apart from drizzling and dipping.
Olive Oil Matching
Selecting the right EVOO flavours becomes a key consideration when using a lot of it in a recipe (e.g. at least 100ml or more). Here's when a small splurge on a good fresh bottle is totally worth it in order to avoid the irreversible damage of inferior, tasteless or worse, bad olive oil!
Our favourite EVOO for making Salmorejo is made from the Hojiblanca varietal of olives. Good Hojiblanca EVOO can be superbly balanced with hints of fresh grass, olive leaves, apples and fresh tomatoes giving way to a slight bitterness and delicious spiciness.
Among the most consumed Spanish olive oils, Hojiblanca's flavour profile sits somewhere between the very bitter and pungent flavours of the ubiquitous Picual varietal and the fruity softness of the elegant Arbequina. This makes Hojiblanca very versatile for most manners of cooking and dining.
How to make this:
4 servings (about 100ml per serving)
- 500g Tomatoes, Roma/plum tomatoes work best
- 150ml Extra virgin olive oil
- 100g of day-old bread (traditionally a dense, rustic white bread is used but we've chosen to use a country-style sourdough, which adds depth and earthiness)
- 2 cloves of fresh garlic, smashed and peeled
- 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
- 2 eggs, hardboiled 10 minutes and cut into quarters
- Equipment - food processor is easiest
- Core and cut tomatoes in quarters and buzz for 3 minutes in food processor with olive oil, garlic and salt
- Keeping the food processor on, slowly add the bread that has been cut or torn into smaller pieces.
- Check texture - smooth and no lumps. Add more salt to taste as needed.
- Strain out solids by running the soup through a sieve. Work a spoon around the sieve to push all the liquids through.
- Pour into serving bowls and chill in fridge for at least 1-1.5 hours
- Before serving, garnish each bowl with quarters of hardboiled eggs.
Tips:
If the soup tastes too bitter for your liking (likely from the type of olive oil you're using), buzz in a splash of sherry vinegar. For a more traditional serving style, sprinkle on some diced Serrano ham or Jamón Ibericó. Looking for a non-tomato based cold soup? Check out our Cucumber Green Gazpacho recipe.