Gazpacho - Chill Out on a Warm Summer Day

Gazpacho is one of my summertime favorites.  The crisp, cool and slightly spicy flavors of a good bowl of gazpacho cannot be beat on a hot summer day.  This  gazpacho has a tomato base and a lot of summer vegetables.  There are no set rules so if you are missing an ingredient or two don't worry - all gazpachos taste different.  My husband often makes a savory watermelon or peach gazpacho at work that incorporates some of vegetables below but with different spices.

Gazpacho comes from the southern part of Andalusia in Spain.  Purists favor mashing ingredients in a mortar and pestle and the recipes from Spain typically contain stale bread, wine vinegar and olive oil.  The olive oil will add mouth feel to the soup allowing the flavors to linger in your mouth for a little longer.   The base for the soup I make is V-8 juice.  I like a combination of some smooth texture and some with the vegetables in tact.  Once I add the additional minced and cubed vegetables I divide the soup and blend half of the mixture to incorporate the vegetables.  You can substitute vegetable stock but may need some additional tomato added to the soup.  Make sure you leave plenty of time to chill your soup - this will also allow the foam created by blended to settle - giving the soup a more appealing texture.  I like to garnish my with either some of the fresh cubed vegetables found in the soup or for a special occasion a couple of jumbo chilled cooked shrimp.  Enjoy!

Gazpacho

Pulse Blend:

2 - 3 Tomatoes, washed and quartered
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce OR balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon of minced garlic
1 teaspoon basil or 2 Tablespoons fresh basil
1 teaspoon oregano or 2 Tablespoons fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon thyme or 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme
1 1/2 cups V-8 Juice

In a separate bowl combine:

1 small onion, diced
1 cucumber, peeled seeded and cubed (about 1/4" cubes)
1 green pepper, diced
*1 poblano pepper (roasted, peeled, seeded and diced)
1 celery stalk, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced (a hand chopper works beautifully for this)
1 small zucchini, diced
For a spicier version you can add a few drops of tabasco - I prefer to add a fresh jalapeño  pepper seeded and diced very finely.

*I roast my poblanos directly on my gas stove top burner but you can also use the broiler in the oven.  Set the flame to med-low and place the washed and dried pepper directly over the flame.  Turn the pepper frequently to char the outside skin.  Immediately after charring remove the pepper to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Allow the pepper to cool for several minutes while you prepare the other vegetables.  Once the pepper is cool slide the charred skin off the flesh and discard (you can use a little running water but be careful not to wash away too much of the flavor!).  Slice open the pepper, remove the seeds and dice.

Divide the chopped vegetables in half and put one half in the blended tomato mixture.  Pulse until desired consistency.  If the soup still looks to chunky you can remove some of the soup to the blender and pulse again.   Fold in the remaining ingredients and add a tablespoon of olive oil.   Chill thoroughly before serving.

Some of my favorite garnishes depending on what I have on hand:

Fresh cilantro
Cubed cucumber
Thinly sliced sweet mini-peppers
Pepitas
Toasted tortilla strips
Chilled Cooked Jumbo Shrimp