My foodie friends might find this cliche, but I don't care. Now is the time to make tomato-based gazpacho. Seriously. If you like this dish at all, make it now. At any other time of year it will suck in comparison to how it tastes at this moment. I can get absolutely everything I need for this dish at my Farmer's Market. I hope you can too. Most gazpachos I've seen in the US are chunky and reminiscent of a bowl full of salsa. This blended version is a bit more refined.

This is what I ate for lunch today. I just threw on some chopped Black Forest ham and drizzled some Basil Oil over the top. Pretty but unnecessary. Diced or sliced hard boiled eggs and/or fresh chopped basil would also be a nice garnish. As my daughter says, it was 'divine'.

Cordovan Gazpacho

• 2 lb tomatoes, chopped
• 3 cups artisan bread, cut into 1 inch chunks (about half of a mini French loaf)
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled & crushed
• ½ red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup water
• 1 Tbsp sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
• Pinch Sugar
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• Pinch fresh ground pepper

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Allow to chill in the refrigerator overnight, or for at least 2-3 hours. Puree in batches in a blender on high speed. You can eat this as is (I did), but if you want a restaurant-quality dish, you need to strain this through a chinois or fine mesh strainer to remove any little bits of tomato skin or veggie chunks. Taste and adjust seasonings with more salt, sugar, pepper, and vinegar if necessary. Serve well chilled.