Tomato essence, cucumber “Prison” with tomato concassé and basil

Last Updated on December 2, 2024

This special vegetable soup is served cold. The recipe is from the show VIP Prostřeno, cooked by Mr. Jaro Slávik.

Ingredients:

Tomato essence: 1.5 kg well ripened and fragrant cherry tomatoes (aromio) 4 pcs celery stalks (preferably from the centre) 3 pcs strips of good quality garlic 1 piece of smaller fennel 1 pc spring onion stalk 1 pc shallots 1 bunch of fresh green basil 1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce a few stems of smooth-leaved parsley or chives a few sprigs of thyme pepper, salt For a cucumber “Prison” 1 pk large straight snakehead pickles 1 piece of soft cottage cheese (can be flavored) 4 tbsp crême fraiche 1 tbsp chives or onion sprigs finely chopped a piece of hard, finely grated cheese (parmesan, sheep’s cheese) pepper, salt For tomato concassé: 2 pcs tomatoes 1 tsp olive oil

Procedure:

1. First, prepare the tomato essence (it will take at least 24 hours!); Prepare a larger bowl, a fine larger colander, a cheesecloth and a container where the essence will drip, finely chop all the ingredients for the tomato essence into a larger bowl, season with salt, pepper and worcester, place the cheesecloth in the colander and place in the prepared container or casserole, dump the entire contents of the chopped ingredients in the bowl into the linen in the colander, put it in the fridge ready like this and it takes a long time for the golden clear nectar to beautifully evaporate into the bottom of the container, it takes at least 24 hours, better even longer
2. Prepare the cucumber “Prison”; first peel the cucumber and then proceed with the peeler by making long thin slices down to the seeds, dry the prepared slices from water with a paper towel, take a mould (for example for muffins) and put the slices in it crosswise so that they cover the whole bottom, all sides and overlapping over each other, make the slices so long that we can finally put them over each other and close the entire contents of the mould, repeat the procedure, this is how we prepare the base for the “Prison”
3. Use the remaining ingredients to prepare the cream to fill the moulds with cucumber slices, close the filled moulds with cream cheese by gradually folding the overlapping cucumber slices, put the prepared moulds in the fridge and leave to cool.
4. Prepare the tomato concassé by taking tomatoes and dipping them in hot water for 30 seconds, remove and discard the skins, quarter the peeled tomatoes (not necessary) and remove the seeds with a spoon, cut the remaining flesh into small cubes or slices, add a teaspoon of seasoned olive oil to the diced concassé with the tomatoes and mix lightly, also put in the fridge to cool
5. In a deep plate, serve first the cooled and tipped cucumber “Prison”, put a spoonful of flavored concassé on it, pour the drained tomato essence into the prepared plate and garnish with basil leaves.