Use fresh summer tomatoes to make a batch of gazpacho. Serve this flavorful blend of garden vegetables chilled.
Gazpacho is easy to make and requires no cooking. Take advantage of summer’s bounty and make some of this delicious soup.
This recipe makes about 8 cups.
Tips
- I substituted 1/3 of a large light green pepper from a local farm stand for the Cubanelle and it worked just fine.
- I added a pinch of hot pepper, using dried Cherry Bomb, which has a fruity, lightly hot taste. I think it takes the soup flavor up a notch. Don’t use much or you’ll overpower the other flavors in the soup.
- Use a blender (stand or hand-held) or a food processor to purée the soup.
Ingredients
You need the following ingredients to make gazpacho.
- 6-7 medium fresh tomatoes, cut into chunks
- 1 large Italian frying (Cubanelle) pepper or another long, light green pepper, cored, seeded, and roughly cut into chunks
- 1 large seedless cucumber (or three small ones), peeled and cut into chunks
- ½ of a medium mild onion (sweet onion works) cut into chunks
- 1 medium clove garlic, chopped
- 4 teaspoons sherry vinegar
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 2 crustless slices of stale white bread, broken into pieces
- Pinch of dried ground hot pepper
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Fresh ground pepper, to taste
Directions
You’ll probably need to work in batches to purée the vegetables. Add the pepper, cucumber, onion, and garlic to a food processor. Blend until well-chopped. Add the tomatoes and blend at high speed until very smooth, stopping sometimes to scrape down the sides.
Add the vinegar, olive oil, half the bread pieces, pepper, and salt. Blend until smooth. Taste. If you want the soup a little thicker, add the rest of the bread. Adjust the salt and pepper. Blend until smooth again. As you are blending it, the mixture turns a beautiful orangey pink and creamy looking.
Pour the gazpacho through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing the liquid out with the back of a large spoon. Discard the solids.
Transfer the soup to a large bowl and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes, or until you are ready to serve it. Don’t worry if the soup separates a bit while it sits. Just stir it back together before serving it.
To serve the gazpacho, ladle it into bowls and drizzle it with a little olive oil.
Store any remaining gazpacho in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days.
Related Posts
You might enjoy these recipes.
- Heirloom Tomato, Nectarine, and Burrata Salad
- Roasted Tomato Panzanella
- Quick Creamy Tomato Soup
- Roasted Green Tomato Salsa