Salmorejo (chilled tomato and bread soup)

Ingredients

• 1 kg ripe tomatoes
• 150 g day-old white bread
• 1 garlic clove
• 100 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp Xalte Original salt
• 2 eggs
• 50 g serrano ham, diced
• water for boiling the eggs

Method

1. 1Bring water to the boil in a small saucepan, enough to cover the eggs. When it boils, lower the eggs in with a spoon so they do not crack and cook them for 10 minutes over a medium heat.
2. 2Cool the eggs under the cold tap for a couple of minutes, peel them and chop them into small pieces. Keep them in the fridge.
3. 3Wash the tomatoes, remove the hard core by the stalk and cut them into chunks. Peel the garlic, cut it in half and remove the shoot in the centre if there is one, which makes it gentler.
4. 4Blend the tomatoes with the garlic in a blender jug for 1 to 2 minutes, until you have a liquid purée.
5. 5Cut the bread into pieces, removing the crust if it is very hard, and add it to the tomato. Leave it for 5 minutes to soak and soften.
6. 6Add the vinegar and the teaspoon of Xalte Original salt and blend again for 2 minutes, until you cannot see any bread.
7. 7Still blending, pour in the oil a little at a time, in a thin stream. The cream is ready when it turns orange, thick and smooth, and coats the back of a spoon.
8. 8Pour the salmorejo into a container with a lid and chill it in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
9. 9Stir it, divide it between four bowls and serve it well chilled with the chopped egg and the diced ham on top.