Summer Cool
Gazpacho is a deliciously refreshing cold vegetable soup occasional nicknamed liquid salad. Gazpacho always came back onto our menus in the summer months. Today’s 22° c is what triggered my craving for the refreshing and picanté gazpacho.
This recipe is probably the most recognizable of the gazpacho’s but can be switched up with various garnishes and seasonings. I have left the bread out to keep my carbs lower but feel free to top with large rustic garlic croutons and chopped hard boiled egg. Originally prepared with a mortar and pestle today we’ll be using a drink blender or cuisine-art to puree.
INGREDIENTS
- 6 large vine ripened tomatoes
- 6 baby cucumber or 1 pealed and seeded field cucumber
- 1/2 red onion
- 2 red peppers
- 2 green peppers
- 2 heads of chopped garlic
- 1 tbsp smoked spicy Spanish paprika
- 1/2 cup sherry vinegar
- 1 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp fresh cracked black pepper
- juice of 2 lemons
- zest of 1 lemon
METHOD
- Core tomatoes and blend until nearly juiced. The tomatoes may appear to be pale & frothy but that’s just temporary.
- Before blending coarsely chop cucumber, red & green peppers and onion, then blend until desired consistency.
- Mix the two batches together
- Add remaining ingredients – chopped garlic, lemon juice & zest, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, smoked paprika and sherry vinegar.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Served in a cup or a bowl, topped off with chopped hard boiled egg and large rustic croutons then drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of smoked Spanish paprika.
