6 people
SOUP
Ina Garten Modern Comfort (p. 70)
Tomatoes - 2 lbs
Red bell pepper - 1
Red onion - 1
Garlic - 3 cloves
Tomato puree (can) - 4 oz
Sherry vinegar - 2 tbl
Croutons - 1 bag
White bread - 4 slices
Tomatoes - core and roughly chop
Red bell pepper - core, seed and dice
Red onion - chop to yield 1/2 cup
Bread - remove crusts and dice to yield 1 cup
Place the chopped fresh tomatoes, bread chunks, bell pepper, onion and garlic in the bowl of a food processor or blender and puree until you can only see small pieces of tomato skins. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and whisk in the tomato puree, vinegar, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Slowly whisk in 3⁄4 cup olive oil.
Cover and refrigerate the soup for just 2 hours to allow the flavors to blend. If you refrigerate the soup for more than 2 hours, the olive oil will congeal so if you want to prepare the soup ahead of time, make it without the olive oil, refrigerate and whisk in the oil just before serving.
Serve cold in large, shallow bowls and top with croutons, cherry tomatoes, basil leaves, sea salt.