Gazpacho with Tomato Pita Bread

1 litre or 4 cups of tomato juice. Get the best quality you can.
10 medium tomatoes, acid free are best.
2 medium red (Spanish) onions chopped coarsely
2 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
1 Lebanese cucumber
2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar, OR 1 tablespoon dry sherry and 1 tablespoon wine vinegar)
1 medium red capsicum (bell pepper) chopped coarsely

Garnish
1 small red onion chopped finely
1 small red capsicum chopped finely
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, or basil

Tomato Pita Bread Crisps:
125ml - 1/2 cup sun dried tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 Pita Bread pockets - flat unleavened bread,

Method - Gazpacho:
Blend or process tomatoes, juice, onions, garlic, cucumber, sherry vinegar, and capsicum in batches until pureed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Just before serving, divide the soup amongst bowls, stir in equal amounts of the extra onion, cucumber, capsicum and dill or basil into

each bowl as a garnish.

Pita Bread crisps:
combine the tomato paste, garlic and olive oil in a bowl. spilt the breads in half (put a knife in the side and gently go round the pita to open. Spread the cut sides with the paste mixture, cut them into ‘pizza-like slices’, and bake in a 180c oven (350f) for ten minutes until crisp.

Hint, V8 juice would be a good alternative to the tomato juice, just remember test, and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

To turn this into a complete meal, you can add finely chopped celery and green capsicum to the soup - say about 1/2 cup of each, and top the bowls with finely diced hard boiled egg at the last minute. Don’t forget, serve as cold as posible, and you can even have ice cubes on the side.

How about a nice cold Sauvignon blanc to compliment!

A fruit sorbet would round out the evening...

bon appétit!