Chef and restaurateur José Pizarro. Photo: Emma Lee
What to cook – eat, even – when the going gets hot? In choosing a recipe to share this week, we decided to look for something chilled. A soup, maybe? And who better to provide than the chef and restaurateur José Pizarro, whose most recent book, Spanish Pantry, takes its inspiration from the staple ingredients of his homeland: onions, peppers, chorizo, almonds, jamón … And not forgetting tomatoes, which, he says, “are one of the most revered ingredients in Spain today”.
José, who initially trained as a dental technician before embracing the culinary life, has been called “the Godfather of Spanish food” and runs restaurants in London (including in the Royal Academy of Art) and in Surrey.
Of the recipe he shares here, he says it is “a story in a bowl for me, rich with the flavours of summer and brimming with nostalgia”. And while his mother’s tomato soup in his childhood home in Extremadura involved frying tomatoes with onions and bread, his own recipe “takes a different path, exaggerating the natural sweetness of vine-ripened tomatoes by roasting them to intensify their flavour”.
And then there are the figs, which José promises will transform the soup “into something really special”. He recommends the Oñigal variety from Extremadura, which are small and honey-sweet. “We once had a fig tree in my dad’s vegetable garden and the fruit from that tree paired beautifully with my mum’s tomato soup, proving that life, indeed, is about savouring the memories we make.”
Words by Jane Ferguson
José’s chilled roast tomato soup with figs
Takes 1½ hours plus chilling. Serves 4–6.
Ingredients
2kg ripe vine tomatoes
1 garlic bulb, cloves separated
Good pinch of chilli flakes
Olive oil, for roasting
2 banana shallots, finely chopped
4 sprigs of oregano
1 litre fresh chicken stock
4 ripe figs
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 150C fan/170C/Gas Mark 3.
Halve the tomatoes and put on baking trays cut side up. Scatter with the garlic cloves and chilli flakes. Drizzle with lots of olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Roast for 45-60 mins, swapping the trays halfway through, until lightly caramelised.
Heat a little more oil in a pan and gently fry the shallots for 10 mins. Add the roasted tomatoes. Squeeze the insides of the roasted garlic into the pan, discarding the skins.
Add the oregano and pour in the stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 mins. Remove from the heat and cool, then chill until you are ready to serve.
Quarter the figs and toss with some salt and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Spoon the soup into bowls, top with the figs and another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some black pepper. Serve.
The Spanish Pantry by José Pizarro is published by Hardie Grant, £28
Photography by Emma Lee