For a change, I found some rather tasty shop-bought full-size tomatoes this week. My own tomatoes are nowhere near bearing as yet, so this was a bonus. I made a batch of salmorejo, a tapa that we've had many times in Granada, Córdoba and many a little village bar in Andalucía. I had to battle with Mrs Steve even to make this, as she associates it exclusively with sitting outside Spanish bars on hot August evenings with a glass or five of the best local red... However, just for once I prevailed.

Salmorejo is the thicker, creamier and tastier cousin of gazpacho, and must be served very cold and in small dishes or wine glasses. It's very easy to make, as long as you have those really good tomatoes. Here goes:

You need (for four):

a pound and a half of the best full-size tomatoes
Two fat garlic cloves, peeled
100 ml of the best extra virgin olive oil you can get your hands on. Compromise is not possible.
A really good glug of sherry vinegar
A teaspoon of sugar
Salt
The bread from a smallish baguette, crust removed

Blend everything except the bread to a fairly smooth paste. Crumble up the bread and put it into the tomato paste and let it sit for ten minutes. Blend again, achieving a pretty smooth consistency. You're done!

Now you really must chill this thoroughly. And here are two golden rules: first, don't bother peeling your tomatoes. Absolutely not necessary. Second, soak your bread in the tomato sauce you've made and ignore those stupid recipes that have you soaking the bread separately in water. I mean, why would you do that...

Now when you serve this as a tapa or a starter, the tradition is that you crumble a small amount of cold hard-boiled egg and a few slivers of Serrano ham on top. I find Serrano ham to be a bit chewy and the sort of thing I'm picking out of my teeth all the next day, so I substitute some crumbled-up crispy pancetta or streaky bacon. No-one's ever complained!

In Spain this is often served with little breadsticks, but I don't think you need those if you're serving it as a starter or as as part of a platter of tapas.

Finally, I made a double batch tonight, and I'm experimenting with the leftovers to see if it freezes.