Musician Rick Bellaire sends along this recipe, promising you'll like it. The Patriots play
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Friday night at 7:30 p.m. on Fox.

RICK BELLAIRE'S GAZPACHO RECIPE

My friend, the actor Paul DePasquale, broke the news to me that he didn't like gazpacho as he sat down at my table.

He wound up having seconds.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb white bread (preferably Portuguese rolls or any other light, fluffy bread)
2 lbs Italian plum tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
1 large onion (preferably white Spanish or Vidalia)
4 Cubanelle peppers (or 2 large green bell peppers)
1 large Jalapeno pepper (or 2 small)
1 large cucumber
1 small bunch of cilantro
1 cup of olive oil
4 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
4 oz water
1 tablespoon Cumin
1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

OPTIONAL GARNISHES
Drizzled olive oil
Sliced Manzanilla pimento-stuffed green olives
Chopped cilantro
Dollop of sour cream

DIRECTIONS
Chop the bread into dice-sized cubes
Split and seed all but two of the tomatoes
Quarter the onion reserving one quarter
Split peppers and remove seeds reserving 1 pepper (or 1/2 a bell pepper)
Split jalapeno and remove seeds
Split cucumber and remove seeds reserving a 1/4 piece
Reserve about a quarter of the cilantro

Put everything into a food processor and blend to a smooth consistency

Make a small dice of the reserved tomatoes, onion, pepper and cucumber
Mix the chopped ingredients into the soup for a "chunky" consistency
Chop the reserved cilantro for use as a garnish

SERVING
Serve cold with any or ALL of the recommended garnishes

6 dinner portions, 12 appetizer portions