Clear Gazpacho

This is based on a recipe by Charlie Trotter. Yield: 4 servings 150-200g mixture of some or all of the following:

cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced
green courgette, diced and blanched
yellow courgette, diced and blanched
radish, diced
tomato concassee, diced
red pepper, diced
avocado, cut into ½ inch balls
red cherry tomatoes, halved
yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
plum, peeled and diced
apple, peeled and diced

salt & pepper
Mixed fresh herbs - coriander, basil, chervil etc, juilienned
1 red chilies, finely sliced
400ml Tomato Water (see below)

Method

Finely cut up the required selection of vegetables & fruit. Produce a variety of shapes - e.g. cube, diamond, match-stick etc. To stop the fruit turning brown, keep in a little tomato water.

Scatter the vegetables, fruit and chiles around each bowl. Add about 100ml of Tomato Water to each bowl.

Grind over a few grains of black pepper & salt to taste and sprinkle on the herbs.

Tomato Water

Yield: about 400ml 800 - 1000g very ripe tomatoes
2 tsp. salt

Method

Lightly blend the tomatoes and salt in a blender. Line a colander with 2 layers of muslin. Pour the contents into the colander. Position this over a bowl and leave in the refrigerator overnight.