Spaghetti al Gazpacho

I wanted to experiment a bit with vegetables and tomatoes, for a light, 'summery' pasta that could be enjoyed on a hot day. I decided to experiment with a few types of gazpacho, and then combined it with pasta and fresh Italian imported plum tomatoes (see my other post for where to find them). This pasta is incredibly easy to cook, and besides the Italian imported tomatoes, the ingredients are cheap and available. I was really satisfied with my creation, which brought back memories of when I used to live in Italy. I think it was the combination of full flavoured tomatoes with fresh basil that really did it for me.
This dish could alternatively be served cold, although I haven't tried that yet.

I made a gazpacho from the following:

• 90g ripe tomatoes
• 30g red onion
• 35g red and green peppers
• 40g cucumber
• 10g celery (optional)
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 or 2 anchovies
• a tiny slice of garlic
• a pinch of grated Parmesan (optional)

Blend all the ingredients together until smooth, remove excess water through a fine sieve and add salt as needed.

Peel the fresh plum tomatoes from their skin by making an incision, putting them in boiling water for 15 seconds and then immediately in ice water. Season them with salt and set them aside. Boil the pasta and remove it a couple of minutes before its cooking time, then put it into a large saucepan where you have already fried in olive oil a couple of squashed cloves of garlic. Add about 100ml of chicken stock for each 100g of pasta. Remove the garlic, and finish the cooking of the spaghetti in the pan, adding salt as required. Finally, arrange the gazpacho at the bottom of the plate, place the spaghetti in the middle, and top with freshly grated black pepper and thin slices of fresh basil. Arrange the fresh Italian plum tomatoes all around the gazpacho.