Good (cold tomato) soup

A gazpacho thought experiment becomes dinner.

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“Golden hour” was really working for the soup here.

It’s jump-in-a-pool hot at 7:30am, 12 hours ago it was still light out, this can only mean one thing: Summer is here. And I love it. I love not wearing a coat. I love showering in freezing cold water after a long, sweaty walk. I (finally) love tomatoes—you couldn’t get me near one when I was a kid. I love that after years of searching I found a body sunscreen that doesn’t feel like chalk. I love eating outside. I love getting sand in my beach sandwich. I could go on!!

For the past couple months I’ve been recipe testing for a cookbook during the day, so when dinnertime rolls around, I don’t always feel like cooking *more*. If I don’t have another test prepped, I’ll warm up (or more honestly, open the deli cup and stick a fork into) the leftovers of the days’s tests, and call it a night. As long as I can stand out on my little terrace to munch, episode of Sentimental Garbage on in the background if I’m eating solo, I’m happy.

But sometimes, I’ll toss together a little something extra, something ~seasonal~, dare I say something that inspired me, not something that was assigned to me. Recipe development and testing typically work many months ahead of schedule—I’m sure you’ve heard that food magazines typically work on Thanksgiving in summer. The other afternoon I made a slow-simmered chicken and cauliflower soup (it was 87ºF outside.) But before I made that, I blitzed together a batch of today’s recipe, and had it chilling in the fridge, because I knew that’s what I really wanted to eat.

Gazpacho, salmorejo, and other cold soups have been done (very well) by many cooks. But I still wanted to noodle on the concept. And as is good recipe development, I turned the thought experiment into dinner. Small sweet tomatoes, onions, lightly spicy-briny Peppadew peppers¹, splash of vinegar, blend (until totally smooth, or leave it a little chunky? The choice is yours.) Stir in oil because the blender sometimes makes it too creamy. Let it get cold while you go for a walk or vacuum your living room or in my case, make aforementioned wintery soup and prep focaccia dough.

I spooned oiled-up white beans (and later, chunks of feta) into my bowl, but you can do what feels right: croutons or toast; sardines or tuna; chevre or seared halloumi all sound perfect. The next day for lunch I just sipped it straight from a cup, along with a slice of the aforementioned focaccia.

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ICYMI

• Fudgy sourdough discard brownies for The Perfect Loaf

• New Jersey-style crumb cake for Epicurious

• Canned wine is my new favorite thing to use in the kitchen. About twice a month, I need half a cup—rarely more—for cooking, and then am left with a full bottle to finish (I know this is not a “problem,” but I usually prefer to drink ranch water). Could I use a crappy bottle of whatever’s on sale? Sure, but I do think if you don’t want to drink it, you probably shouldn’t cook with it. Then it struck me: Open a can of wine for the recipe, sip on whatever’s left. The folks at Las Jaras sent me some of their Waves last month, and then

  Alexis deBoschnek
  (lol love that substack keeps us first name last name formal) sent me some Oona, and I am *set*. At about $10/can, neither brand is cheap, but after much experience I strongly feel that the only thing cheap wine does is save me $4 and give me a migraine. Use whatever can suits your budget, the concept still holds true with the three-buck ones.

• Wanted to shout out that the lovely

  Melina Hammer
  is hosting an experience at Catbird Cottage upstate next weekend, including a garden tour and cooking/cocktail class—I’m not doing a bachelorette party (I don’t think…?) but if I did, I’d want to do something like this with a few friends. Sounds way more fun than dropping thousands on a weekend in vegas/some weird resort.

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Not golden hour—in fact, I definitely got a sunburn shooting this one.

Cold Tomato-Pepper Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 ½ pounds small tomatoes (heirlooms, Campari, cherry), halved, or cut into 1-inch chunks
Kosher salt
Pinch granulated sugar
1 small red or white onion, thinly sliced
2 ounces (56 grams, about 5) Peppadew peppers; or about 1 small bell pepper + ¼ teaspoon red pepper flake
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 oil-packed anchovy (optional)
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more
Fresh torn basil or oregano, for serving (optional)

Method
Place the tomatoes in large bowl with 1 teaspoon (Diamond Crystal; or ½ teaspoon Morton) salt and the sugar. Place the onion in a small bowl and cover with cold water. Set both aside for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour.

Pour the tomatoes (and all their juices) into a blender. Drain the onions and rinse them with more cold water; drain again. Add the onion to the blender along with the peppers, vinegar, a few good grinds of black pepper, and the anchovy if using. Alternatively, if you have an immersion blender, add everything to the tomato bowl. Blend until your preferred texture is reached—that could be a little chunky, like salsa; or totally smooth.

Stir in the oil, then season with more salt and vinegar to taste (if using bell peppers instead of Peppadews, you’ll need this!) Cover the blender cup (or bowl) and pop it in the fridge to chill until cold, at least 1 hour.

Ladle into bowls with any of the toppings I called out earlier, or just a handful of herbs, more black pepper, and olive oil. (Spoon into cups if you want to sip on this instead—those don’t need more than salt, pepper, and a glug of oil.) Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

1. Officially a trademarked name of one company that pickles Juanita peppers, but sold by myriad brands at this point. I got mine from the olive bar at Whole Foods, they’re $12/pound but you only need 2 ounces for this recipe.