Serves 4
Ingredients
- 6 very ripe tomatoes
- 4 tbsp./ ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tbsp. freshly chopped basil
- 3 garlic cloves. peeled and crushed
- ¼ tsp hot chili powder
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 600 ml/1 pints/2 ½ cups chicken stock
- 175 g/6 oz./6 slices stale white bread
- 50 g/2 oz./ ¼ small cucumber. cut into small dice
- 4 whole basil leaves
Directions
Make a small cross in the base of each tomato. then place in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to stand for 2 minutes. or until the skins have started to peel away. then drain. remove the skins and seeds and chop into large pieces.
Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a saucepan and gently cook the onion until softened. Add the skinned tomatoes. chopped basil. garlic and chili powder and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour in the stock. cover the saucepan. bring to the boil and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes.
Remove the crusts from the bread and break into small pieces. Remove the tomato mixture from the heat and stir in the bread Cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes. or until the bread has blended with the tomatoes. Season to taste.
Serve warm or cold with a swirl of olive oil on the top, garnished with a spoonful of chopped cucumber and basil leaves.