Sweet Corn Gazpacho

I love a good cold bowl of gazpacho especially on hot, steamy days like we've been having, but it has to be a good bowl of gazpacho. It is so disappointing to order something called gazpacho and just get a bowl of cold tomato soup. To me, gazpacho is much more than just tomato, it's the perfect blend of all the vegetables that are in season.

The typical combination of vegetables is tomato, cucumber and peppers, but when I saw the beautiful sweet corn that was finally here I knew I had to add it too. Now, I'm not sure I'll like gazpacho as much without it! I love the sweetness it adds to the soup plus the crunch it adds as a garnish.

This is the perfect hot weather meal as the only cooking involved is the corn (well, ok I blanched my tomatoes for peeling). Other than that everything else just gets thrown in the blender. I serve the soup with some hearty white bread, usually what's left of the loaf I used in the soup itself.

Sweet Corn Gazpacho
(If you like your gazpacho to have a little kick add a hot pepper along with the sweet ones.)

2 ears sweet corn
1 clove garlic, peeled
kosher salt
1 1/2 lbs tomatoes, peeled & seeded
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into pieces + a little extra chopped for a garnish
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1/2 c chopped, seeded sweet pepper
1 T sherry vinegar
2 T olive oil
1/2 c pieces of heavy white bread (preferably a day old though I used fresh a& it worked fine) with crusts removed
Pepper
pinch or two of cayenne pepper

Husk the sweet corn. Cook in boiling water until crisp tender, about 5 minutes. Remove and let cool. Cut the kernels from the cobs.

Put the garlic clove and two pinches of salt into a mortar and pestle. Crush until it forms a paste.

Put the corn kernels in a blender, reserving a few tablespoons to garnish the soup later. Add the garlic paste, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, sweet pepper. Purée until everything is chopped very finely. Add the vinegar and olive oil.

Put the bread pieces in a bowl and add 1/2 cup cold water. Let sit until the bread absorbs most of the water. Squeeze the water from the bread, reserving the water. Add the bread to the blender. Purée until smooth and creamy. If you want it thinner add the bread water a little at a time.

Chill for at least an hour. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne before serving. Serve garnished with the reserved corn and a little chopped cucumber.

Makes 2 - 3 main dish servings.

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