beet salmorejo

Today we're going to make a recipe for beetroot salmorejo, an essential recipe to help you cope with the summer heat, avoid spending too much time in the kitchen and enjoy a classic first course. Leti, from Revelando Sabores , tells us the recipe and will convince you why you should prepare this delicious recipe.

It will never happen, because flamenco singing and dancing are not my thing, but if I ever dedicated myself to it professionally I know what my stage name would be: "La niña del salmorejo".

I really like salmorejo, man! Just between us, the amount of litres I can drink during the summer... I think if it were up to me, I would drink it almost every day.

But in these summer months I can't think of a better dish to cope with the heat than cold soups and creams, such as salmorejo. So I have decided to increase my personal 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 delicious as the original and with a sweet touch that we loved.

We will also accompany it with a most surprising garnish: anchovies and apple...

Who gives more?

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

Ingredients

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

For the accompaniment:

• 1 apple
• Anchovies
• 1 splash of lemon juice

Elaboration

1. We begin by preparing the beetroot. To do this, we wash the beetroot well under the tap to remove any possible traces of dirt.
2. Next, using a sharp knife , cut the stem 10cm from the base, i.e. leave 10cm of stem uncut. This will ensure that the beetroot does not lose colour during cooking.
3. We put salted water to heat in the cocotte and when it begins to boil we add the unpeeled beetroot.
4. We cook it for approximately one hour, until we prick it with the tip of a knife and see that it is tender.
5. We remove the beetroot from the water and place it in a colander . We let it cool and once it has cooled, we peel it using a sharp knife.
6. We chop the beet and set aside.
7. We wash the tomatoes, cut them (the Opinel with serrated blade is great for them), it is not necessary that they are too small pieces, and we put them together with the beetroot, the bread, the garlic, the salt and a little olive oil in the blender glass.
8. We leave it for a few minutes so that the bread softens a little and becomes easier to work with.
9. Blend this mixture with a blender and once it becomes a cream, add the rest of the olive oil in a thin stream while continuing to blend at low speed. This will emulsify it, like mayonnaise, and leave you with a very creamy salmorejo.
10. Once it is well crushed, we pass the salmorejo through a food mill to remove any remaining skin or seeds and thus achieve a finer texture.
11. We correct the salt, add the splash of vinegar and leave it to cool in the refrigerator until ready to eat. Personally, I like to keep it in the refrigerator inside the Le Creuset cocotte , since we can serve it directly from the refrigerator to the table and, as the cocotte is made of cast iron, our salmorejo will stay cool for longer.
12. Peel the apple and cut it into small cubes. Sprinkle with a little lemon juice to prevent it from oxidizing and set aside.
13. We serve the salmorejo in the Le Creuset ramekins and accompany it with the reserved diced apple, the anchovies and a splash of olive oil.

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

Grades

• If it seems too thick, we can thin it out with a little water, but remember that it is a thick cream, not as light as gazpacho.
• If you are a fan of salmorejo, I hope you are encouraged to prepare this variation at home, because I am sure that you will like it as much as it was enjoyed at home. And if what you are not convinced by is the garnish with anchovies, you can serve it with the traditional accompaniment of ham and boiled egg, which also goes wonderfully with it.
• I have chosen to serve it in ramekins because the Le Creuset ones are large and are great for serving salmorejo as a starter, but if you don't have them you can also serve it in mini-cocottes or soup tureens , all of which will give it a nice presentation.

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