Savory salmorejo soup: a refreshing chilled Spanish tomato, bread and vinegar soup! Traditionally garnished with ham and boiled eggs.

Here’s a savory salmorejo soup: a refreshing chilled Spanish tomato soup with bread and vinegar! Traditional garnishes are bits of cured ham, crumbled hard boiled eggs and a good drizzle of good quality olive oil.

Some of you might mistakenly think that this Spanish salmorejo is a classic gazpacho but it’s not.

No worries though. Before our city trip to Sevilla I had also never heard of this delicious cold tomato soup version either.

This cold tomato soup originally comes from another Spanish city, Cordoba. And you are right, it has some things in common with a classic gazpacho, that’s for sure.

First of all: it is a Spanish cold soup.

Secondly: raw tomatoes are the main ingredient here as well.

And last but no least: you serve salmorejo cold as a starter soup or an appetizer.

No need to add raw cucumber, celery or shallots to this salmorejo though. The rest of the necessary ingredients are quite different.

That’s it.

Salmorejo (Spanish Chilled Tomato Soup)

One important ingredient makes it distinctively different from gazpacho: the white bread.

This gives it a much thicker consistency and creamier texture without having to add any dairy such as butter, milk or cream even.

You can easily serve gazpacho as an appetizing drink in a glass. It is best to pour this salmorejo in a deep plate and eat it with a spoon. And that’s because of its thicker consistency and the traditional garnish on top: chopped serrano ham and crumbled hard boiled egg.

You can make half of the soup a day in advance.

Pour the blended tomatoes, garlic, bread and olive oil through a sieve and chill the drained soup in the fridge. You just have to add vinegar, pepper and salt to taste the day itself.

Easy!

Also take a look at another Spanish chilled soup: ajo blanco with almonds and bread.

Enjoy!

The Recipe

Spanish Salmorejo Soup

Prep Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr

Salmorejo: a chilled Spanish tomato, bread and vinegar soup!

Course: Appetizer, Lunch, Starter

Cuisine: Spanish

Servings: 4

Calories per serving: 272 kcal

Ingredients

1 lb fresh tomatoes (450 g)
1 tsp garlic chopped
3,5 oz bread (100 g), crusts removed
⅓ cup red wine vinegar (80 ml)
1 hard-boiled egg crumbled
2 slices serrano ham chopped
⅓ cup olive oil (60 ml)
pepper
salt

Instructions

Soak the white bread in a little water for 5 minutes.
Drain the bread and squeeze it out. Roughly chop the ripe tomatoes. Add them together with the chopped garlic and the white bread to a clean blender.
Pulse into a fine mixture. Add the the olive oil.
Pulse well again into a silky smooth reddish soup. Place a fine sieve over a large pan or bowl and pour in the tomato soup.
Stir the soup in the sieve well using a spatula or a spoon until you end up with a coarse pulp.
Discard this tomato and bread pulp. Add half of the vinegar and a little pepper and salt to the tomato soup.
Stir well. Check the seasoning and add extra vinegar, pepper or salt to taste. Transfer the soup to a glass jug and chill it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Then stir the salmorejo soup well and pour it into bowls, deep plates or glasses. Garnish with crumbled hard-boiled egg, chopped Serrano ham and a few drops of olive oil right before serving.