Salmorejo a Spanish Delight!

It was 6pm on a sultry Tuesday evening, a clandestine meeting in a professional kitchen in Seville, and Willy Moya became my newest chefcrush.  Just look at this photo - its beautiful (the food or the chef? You decide).  Salmorejo with boiled egg, Serano ham, and dried strawberries - the brainchild of Chef Moya.    



Salmorejo with boiled egg, jamon, and dried strawberries





Chef Willy Moya of Poncio Restaurant

If you look up recipes for Salmorejo, you'll find it often confused with Gazpacho which is a thin, tomato-based, cold soup.  Totally different than Salmorejo which has fewer ingredients and is very thick and silky like a mousse.  Its meant to be more of a sauce used to embellish everything from meats to grilled vegetables.  This recipe is a little imprecise but go with the chaos because you can't go wrong here.

Salmorejo
2-3 very ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 small loaf of very dry/stale white bread (as dry as a cracker)

Chop or break the bread into cubes and place in a large bowl.  Set aside.  Place the tomotoes and garlic in a blender or food processor and blend until liquid.  Its important to salt the mixture at this point BEFORE the oil is added so the salt can dissolve.  Make sure this mixture is quite salty, you'll be adding bread later so it will become distributed more evenly as the sauce develops. Blend again to make sure the salt dissolves.  While the mixture is blending add the olive oil and continue blending well.

Strain the sauce through a fine sieve to remove the seeds and skins.  Strain the sauce over the dry bread so that it soaks the bread.  Stir to coat all the bread.  Cover and set aside or refrigerate for at least 30 min - 1 hour.

Place the sauce back into the food processor or blender and blend until very thick and smooth.

Serve:
There is no end to the ways you could serve this sauce.  We ate it strait from the bowl with a boiled egg, good ham, and dried strawberries.  I can't find dried strawberries in Seattle but I've used dried cherries and cranberries which are equally delicious.  Salmorejo is also fabulous over seared tuna, or as a sauce for any grilled meat or vegetables.  Be creative and share with me your own version!

***Thanks to one of my favorite bloggers Chef Reinvented, Becky Selengut, for coining the word "chefcrush" - I use it freely but she deserves the credit!