Servings: 8 Prep: 20 min Cook: 5 min Total: 25 min
Gazpacho is an ancient chilled vegetable soup hailing … probably … from Spain. It’s essentially a variety of “peak-of-season” vegetables, pureed raw … and poured into a bowl! I’ll confess to lot loving the “concept” of a Gazpacho. It really sounds like a thick V-8, to me. However … when it’s done right, and the vegetables are truly at their peak, probably bought from a lot farm, or farmer’s market, there’s a living vibrancy to it, that’s just unmistakable. It’s a fantastic soup for any summer day!
Most common Gazpachos are a chilled and pureed mixture of tomatoes, onions, peppers, cucumbers and … often … bread. The bread helps give it a creamy velvety texture. It’s completely unnecessary, however, so … we’re going to leave that out.
Because I’m in Mexico, I’m going to give this one a subtle Latin flair! My recipe is ganished with a light salsa, some cilantro leaves and a cumin crema!
Gazpacho
Print RateIngredients
- 2 lb fresh assorted tomatoes cut into chunks
- 1 each english cucumber peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
- 1 each sweet red onion cut into chunks
- 1 small red bell pepper seeded and cut into chunks
- 4 each garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil good quality
- 1/4 lb cherry tomatoes washed, dried and halved or quartered
- 8 sprigs cilantro leaves fresh whole, stems removed
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp cumin seed ground
- 1 whole avocado peeled and sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a blender, combine the tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, bell peppers, garlic, vinegar and lemon. Season with a small amount of salt and pepper. Puree.
- While the blender is pureeing the soup, pour in the olive oil, slowly. Taste and adjust seasonining.
- Optional Step: Strain the soup through a fine mesh sieve. This will give it a smooth texture.
- Divide the soup into 8 soup bowls.
- In a separate bowl, toss together the cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper and cilantro leaves. Split this mixture 8 ways and place a small amount in the center of each bowl.
- In another bowl, mix the cumin with the sour cream. Some sour creams are thicker than others. If it's too thick, you can add a small amount of water to thin it out. Spoon the cumin crema in a circle, around the tomato garnish.
- Top the soup with thin slices of ripe avocado.
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
Many of your recipes call for lemon juice… I have a severe allergy to that, is there a substitution I could use? Could I just omit it? Thank you!
Hi Shelley … it’s true. I’m a HUGE fan of "flavor" … and by flavor I mean … sweet, salty and/or sour (although, not bitter … bitter exists more as a warning, not so much as a pleasing sensation). Typically, I cook something and then I build those flavors using a bit of salt (or something salty), something sweet and something acidic … usually in the form of lemon juice. It’ll really vary from recipe to recipe. In many cases, you can just leave it out, but you can also substitute with something like lime juice. You can also use vinegars. In this, for example, a nice spanish sherry vinegar would be wonderful! In general, it’s good to wrap your head around the idea of "sour" as a flavor enhancer. Vinegar, citrus juices, buttermilk, wine, tamarind, sour cream, etc. are all tart/sour things that can help balance a recipe and enhance flavors and bring them into focus. Does this help?