Today is the recipe for beet salmorejo, an essential recipe to face the summer heat, get rid of spending a lot of time in the kitchen and enjoy a first course that is a classic. The recipe is told to us by Leti, from Revealing Flavors , who will finish convincing you why you should prepare this delicious recipe.

That will never be the case, because cante jondo and flamenco dancing are not my thing, but if I were ever to dedicate myself professionally to it, I know what my stage name would be: "La Niña del Salmorejo".

What I can like salmorejo, hey! So between us, the number of liters that I can drink during the summer... I think that if it were up to me, I would drink it almost daily.

But it is that in these summer months I cannot think of a better dish to cope with the heat than cold soups and creams, such as salmorejo. So I have proposed to increase my particular recipe book of this type of dishes year after year, to enjoy the greatest possible variety.

And my discovery this year has been this beet salmorejo , as rich as the original and with a sweet spot that we have loved.

We are also going to accompany it with a most surprising garnish, anchovies and apple...

Who gives more??

Le Creuset Evolution round cocotte , Pallarès carbon steel knife , wooden trunk board and Le Creuset ceramic ramekin .

Ingredients

• 1 kg of ripe tomatoes
• 300gr of beetroot
• 200gr of bread
• 250ml olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• Salt
• A dash of vinegar

For the accompaniment:

• 1 apple
• anchovies
• 1 splash of lemon juice

Elaboration

1. We start by preparing the beets. To do this, we wash the beet well under the tap to remove any possible traces of soil.
2. Next, with a very sharp knife , we cut the stem 10cm from the base, that is, we leave 10cm of stem uncut. This will ensure that the beet does not lose color during cooking.
3. Heat the salted water in the cocotte and when it starts to boil, add the unpeeled beets.
4. Cook for about an hour, until you prick with the tip of a knife and see that it is tender.
5. Remove the beet from the water and place in a colander . Let cool and once it cools, peel it with the help of a sharp knife.
6. Chop the beet and reserve.
7. We wash the tomatoes, cut them (the Opinel with a serrated blade is great for them), it is not necessary that they be too small pieces, and we put them together with the beetroot, the bread, the garlic, the salt and a little of the olive oil in the blender jar.
8. Leave a few minutes for the bread to soften a bit and make it easier to work with.
9. With the blender we crush this mixture and once we have made a cream, we begin to add the rest of the olive oil in a fine trickle while we continue beating at low speed. This will make it emulsify, like mayonnaise, and we will be left with a very creamy salmorejo.
10. Once it is well crushed, we pass the salmorejo through the food mill to remove any remaining skins or seeds and thus achieve a finer texture.
11. We correct the point of salt, add the dash of vinegar and take to cool in the refrigerator until the moment of consumption. I personally like to keep it in the fridge inside the Le Creuset cocotte , since we can serve it directly from the fridge to the table and as the cocotte is made of cast iron, our salmorejo will stay fresh longer.
12. Peel the apple and cut it into cubes. Sprinkle with a little lemon juice to prevent it from oxidizing and reserve.
13. We serve the salmorejo in Le Creuset ramekins and accompany it with the apple cubes that we have reserved, the anchovies and a drizzle of olive oil.

Evolution Le Creuset round cocotte , Le Creuset ceramic ramekins , Pallarès carbon steel knife , Boska wood trunk board, Trilloliva extra virgin olive oil and Tellier strainer .

Grades

• If we see that it is too thick, we can lighten it with a little water, but remember that it is a thick cream, not as light as gazpacho.
• If you are lovers of salmorejo, I hope you will be encouraged to prepare this variant at home, because I am sure that you will like it as much as you liked it at home. And if what doesn't convince you is the garnish with anchovies, you can serve it with the traditional accompaniment of ham and boiled egg, which also works wonders.
• I have chosen to serve it in ramekins because Le Creuset's are large and are great for serving salmorejo as a starter, but if they are missing you can also serve it in mini-cocottes or tureens , with all of these you will give it a nice presentation.

Le Creuset Evolution round cocotte , Tellier strainer , Le Creuset ceramic ramekins , Pallarès carbon steel knife , Boska wood trunk board , and Trilloliva extra virgin olive oil .