Gazpacho is also called Andalusian gazpacho. It’s a cold flavourful soup made from raw, ripe vegetables and stale bread. It’s widely eaten in Spain and Portugal, considering how refreshing and cool it is, especially during the hot weather.
I will be honest, I don’t always include the bread and it was left out in this picture. It’s a shockingly bright fresh flavour and the soup is still quite nice without bread. I do, however, recommend adding bread as it will thicken the soup.
Get creative with garnishes – hard-boiled eggs, ham, nuts, orange peel are sore of the traditional garnishes.
Gazpacho
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs ripe red tomatoes (about 4), cored and chopped
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 English cucumber, chopped
1 small red onion, roughly chopped
1 to 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 TBSP sherry vinegar (I honestly like using lemon juice)
2 slices of stale bread, crusts removed, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cup tomato juice
Garnish of choice, such as chives, basil, cherry tomatoes
Directions
- Combine bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, pepper, garlic and salt in a bowl. Toss well to combine. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. This will make it easier to blend everything as well as allow the flavours to meld, plus this will soak the bread to soften it.
- Add the contents of the bowl to the blender, also add sherry vinegar and process until very smooth. You may need to add some tomato juice to make it easier to blend. I usually blend it a few times to ensure it’s very smooth. Remove the center knob while blending and pour in the oil. Pass the contents of the blender through a fine mesh sieve into another bowl. (discard the solids) Stir in the tomato juice. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours for the soup to become really cold and for the flavours to meld.
- Serve garnished with herbs, cherry tomatoes, drizzle of olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper.
