Pepper, Courgette and Yogurt Cold Soup
The recipe is a loose adaptation from the cook book on regional Italian food „Campania”, Corriere della Sera.
It is basically a form of a Spanish gazpacho with an Italian flair.
I adore roasted peppers and I make sure I roast them for long enough in the oven to get the particular smokey favour this recipe needs.
I am careful with the garlic here, which I love, but in a raw form it is very hard to digest.
My solution is to crush a couple of cloves of garlic and leave them in the soup for a good few hours to infuse. That way you will still have the taste of garlic without the unpleasant indigestion it might cause.
Serves 4-6:
- 2 large peppers, red and yellow
- 2 ripe large tomatoes
- about 250 g of small delicate courgettes
- 4-5 slices of stale bread, soaked in cold water
- 200 ml of plain white yogurt, full fat
- 3 garlic cloves
- salt
- a few drops red wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil plus some more for roasting the peppers
- some cold water if needed
For the garnish:
- some fresh parsley leaves
- black pepper
- olive oil
Start with roasting the peppers. Heat the oven to 200-220 C. Wash and dry the peppers. Brush them with olive oil and put into an oven proof dish. Grill them for 15 minutes on each side.
Leave to cool, peel the skin off and discard any seeds.
Bring a small pot of salted water to the boil. Wash and cut into even chunks the courgettes. Put the courgettes into the pot, lower down the heat and simmer until the courgette chunks turn soft. Drain and leave to cool down.
Bring a pot of water to the boil. Score a small cross on the bottom of the tomatoes and put them into the pot for about 2 minutes. Drain the tomatoes and wait until they have cooled down a little.
Peel the skin off, cut in half and remove any seeds.
Squeeze the soaked bread of any excess of water.
Put all the ingredients, apart from the garlic, into a blender or food processor, and blend until you achieve a smooth consistency. If the soup is too thick, add half a glass of water and blend again.
Now taste the soup and add more salt and vinegar to your liking.
Pour the soup into a bowl, add the peeled and crushed garlic cloves, stir well and leave in the fridge to cool for a minimum of 4 hours (it’s best to leave the soup overnight).
Once you are happy with the temperature and the flavours, discard the crushed garlic and serve the soup while still cold. Garnish it with chopped parsley, season with a grating of black pepper and drizzle some olive oil on top.