Tomato soup without cooking

 

Standing at the stove, boiling water, waiting for something to boil or thicken is not about that here. We'll just take ripe tomatoes (any that you can find, even pale ones will do), a little bread, a drop of butter, and in a few minutes we'll make a thick, rich soup that simultaneously resembles mashed potatoes and a light sauce. Even without a blender! It will turn out to be silky, delicate, pleasantly viscous.

This soup is good in the cold, and especially in the heat, when you don't want to eat hot, but starving is also not an option. We start with tomatoes – three ripe, bright red, juicy. We cut them crosswise, pour boiling water for three minutes, then lower them into cold water. The skin will slip off by itself, it only remains to be cleaned. This step is important: the rind in the soup will interfere, and the taste will become rougher.

We cut the peeled tomatoes, remove the watery seeds and chop the pulp with a knife. No blender, just a knife – this way the texture will be more interesting. The riper the tomatoes, the richer the flavor. If you get pale ones, you can add a pinch of sugar for balance. In a deep bowl, mash a clove of garlic with a teaspoon of salt until smooth. Garlic is not just an aroma, it gives the desired piquancy and depth of taste. If you want to get sharper, you can take one and a half cloves, but don't overdo it.: the soup should remain soft.

Add chopped tomatoes, pour in a tablespoon of wine vinegar and a tablespoon of olive oil. We start to pound – with a fork, a spoon, or even with a fist, if there is no pestle. The oil makes the soup silky, and the vinegar highlights the taste of tomatoes. Without it, the soup will turn out bland. Now the main ingredient is half a loaf of white bread, always dry. We break it into pieces and start adding it one at a time to the tomato mixture. Each piece should be slightly soaked, after which it is kneaded until a thick, but not dense puree is obtained. If it's too thick, you can pour in a little cold water or tomato juice. The bread here is not just a filler, it makes the consistency delicate, almost creamy.

We serve the finished soup in a ceramic bowl, sprinkle with chopped boiled egg and thin slices of dried meat or sausage – as much as you like, to taste. These additives will make the taste richer, but the soup is good without them.

The whole process takes no more than 15 minutes. No pots, no stove, and no long waits. A complete list of ingredients in one place (for convenience): Tomatoes – 3 pcs. White bread (dry) – 0.5 rolls (50-70 g) Garlic – 1 clove Olive oil – 1 tbsp Wine vinegar – 1 tbsp Salt – 1 tsp Egg, jamon – to taste