Tuesday 26 October 2010

Gazpacho with Brie and Olive Focaccia

Stephen Stills, of Crosby Stills Nash and Young fame, wrote the song : "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you with." It's rather mercenary for a love song, and certainly not the words I would want my lover to proclaim, should we be separated for any length of time.

It does however play well when it comes to a holiday in Spain I would love to have. Since I can't be in Spain for the holiday I want, I'll still love their food in place I'm in.

My inspiration for a Spanish meal came from Jeanne at Cook Sister, who just had a holiday in Spain. Be sure to click the links to her blog to see the beautiful photographs she took while enjoying the Spanish sunshine.

Gazpacho is a cold Spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup, originating in the southern region of Andalusia. Gazpacho is widely consumed throughout Spain, neighbouring Portugal (where it is known as gaspacho) and parts of Latin America. Gazpacho is mostly consumed during the summer months, due to its cold temperature and acidic bite.
   Gazpacho
Serves 2

1 Tin chopped peeled Tomatoes
½ Cucumber peeled and seeded
1 Green Chili
1 Slice of White Bread Moistened
3 Garlic cloves
15ml Olive Oil
1 Red Pepper, grilled and skin removed
Juice of ½ a lemon
10 Fresh Basil leaves
4 Ice Cubes
10ml Sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
Place in a bowl and chill for at least 2 hours.
Serve cold. garnished with small dice of cucumber, cherry tomatoes and fried basil leaves.

I made this Brie and Olive Focaccia to have with our soup.


Brie and Olive Focaccia

500g White bread dough (shop bought is fine)
10 Olives pitted and torn in half
3 Cloves of Garlic finely chopped
100g Brie Cheese, sliced thickly
Sea Salt
Olive Oil

Pre-heat your oven with a pizza stone to 250ÂșC
Roll out your dough to about ½cm thick
Once the stone is hot, place dough on the stone and top with garlic, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
Return to oven until cooked and starting to brown.
Place the olives and brie on the focaccia and bake until cheese has melted.
Serve warm.

7 comments:

Marisa said...

The gazpacho looks great, but my heart belongs to that fantastic looking focaccia.

Jamie said...

Oooh how perfect is this meal? I am loving that gazpacho and that fantastic focaccia makes the soup a meal! Wonderful! And love Jeanne at Cook Sister! Inspiration indeed!

Hila said...

oo that focaccia looks incredible!

Nina Timm said...

Incredible indeed!!!

Cynthia said...

I really like the fact that your gazpacho will offer varying textures.

SavoringTime in the Kitchen said...

What a wonderful meal. The gazpacho and focaccia both look delicious. Now I'm hungry!

Jeanne @ CookSister! said...

Oh Rosemary! That focaccia!! :o) But I love the sound of the gazpacho as well (and I love that I was in any small way responsible for inspiring it!). You will laugh - we went for lunch in this little mountain village inland from Salobrena and my friend ordered gazpacho. The owner said "no - no gazpacho". We expressed come surprise as we were pretty early for lunch - how could they have sold out already? But no - he explained that at the end of September they stop servign gazpacho as summer is over and the raw ingredients are no longer as good. So even though that was like 5 october and 25 degrees, we could no longer get gazpacho as summer was over!

Jeremiah 17: 7-8

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water."

It is not your business to succeed, but to do what is right : when you have done so, the rest lies with God.
C.S. Lewis

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