Salmorejo Cordobés

Ingredients

• 1 kg very ripe plum tomatoes
• 200 g crumb from a day-old country loaf, crusts removed
• 100 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus more to finish
• 1 small garlic clove
• 8 g fine salt
• 1 tsp sherry vinegar, optional
• 2 eggs, hard-boiled and finely chopped
• 80 g jamón serrano, torn into strips

Before you cook

• Hard-boil the eggs for nine minutes, cool them under cold water, peel and chop them finely.
• Tear the bread crumb into rough pieces and set it aside.
• Wash the tomatoes and cut them into quarters, leaving the skins on.
• Tear the jamón into thin strips with your fingers.

Steps

1. Put the quartered tomatoes into a blender and blitz them on high for two minutes until completely liquid.
2. Pass the purée through a sieve if you want it perfectly smooth, pressing the pulp with a ladle.
3. Return the tomato to the blender, add the torn bread and let it soak for five minutes.
4. Add the garlic clove and the salt, then blend for one minute until thick and uniform.
5. With the motor running on a low speed, pour the olive oil in a thin steady stream through the lid opening.
6. Keep blending for another minute after the oil is in, watching the colour turn from red to a pale orange-pink as the emulsion takes.
7. Taste and add the sherry vinegar and more salt only if the tomatoes need lifting.
8. Chill the salmorejo for at least two hours so it thickens further and the garlic mellows.
9. Stir it once before serving and ladle it into shallow bowls.
10. Top each bowl with chopped egg and strips of jamón, and finish with a thread of olive oil.