Cut 1kg ripe tomatoes into chunks and place in a bowl along with 2 Romano red peppers (seeded and chopped), 1-2 /160g small cucumbers (peeled and chopped), 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed, tossing everything with 1 tsp salt. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Drain juices into a medium bowl (squeeze the vegetables lightly to extract more liquid, and toss with 80g plain crustless white bread cut into chunks (3-4 slices). Transfer the drained vegetables into a Ziploc bag and place in the freezer for 30-40 minutes (‘cryo-blanching’ to extract more flavour from them without cooking).

Remove vegetables from the freezer and thaw a bit if necessary before placing them, along with the juicy bread, in a blender/mixer, blending at high speed, and slowly drizzling in 120ml olive oil and 3 tbsp sherry vinegar to emulsify.

Strain soup through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve, drizzling each bowl with balsamic vinegar, and garnishing with croutons and basil leaves.

Serves 4-6.