Gazpacho
Friday September 26, 2008 :: by Ingrid
Who doesn’t love a delicious bowl or cup of soup? I love making fresh delicious soups and I have many favorites and this soup is one of them.
Gazpacho is one of those soups that bring the best of many fresh vegetables together, and that’s what makes it so good, so use the freshest most flavorful vegetables you can find. The fresher the ingredients the better the end result.
A great thing about gazpacho is you can make it with whatever vegetables you have on hand. Use tomatoes as a staple or base ingredient and work from there. Follow this or other recipes as a guide, use your favorite herbs to season, and most importantly have fun experimenting and trying new variations.
Gazpacho is traditionally served as a cold soup but I like to serve it at room temperature too. If you aren’t already a fan of gazpacho, you might certainly become one after a spoonful of this fresh, flavorful, and truly delightful soup.
Gazpacho
This soup taste especially delicious when the flavors are allowed to combine, let this soup rest for a few hours, ideally overnight. This is a great soup to make in advance.
Apple cider vinegar [1 – 1 ½ tablespoons] can substitute the lemon juice called for in this recipe.
1 large red bell pepper [about 1 cup], seeded, diced
1 half red onion, peeled, diced
1 medium cucumber, diced
2 stalks celery [about ¾ cup], diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup filtered water
2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh squeezed
2 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, leaves removed from stem
1 teaspoon fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1 – 1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, stir in at the end
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
Dice the tomatoes, red peppers, red onions, cucumber, and celery; divide each in half. Place one half of each diced vegetable in a blender or food processor. Place the remaining diced vegetables in a bowl and set aside.
Add the garlic, vinegar, basil, thyme, and parsley to the blender or food processor and puree until smooth.
Pour the puree to the bowl of diced vegetables. Add the extra virgin olive oil and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Allow the soup to stand for a couple hours, allowing the flavors to combine, or refrigerate overnight. Serve garnished with lemon and cilantro or parsley.
Serves 4
Comments
6 Comments so far
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Hi Ingrid, I didn’t waste any time making this one! I didn’t have heirloom tomatoes but did have very ripe roma tomatoes that were on their way out if I didn’t use them quickly. I had a few spoons of the gazpacho before putting it into the fridge, it taste so good. I’m having this for dinner tonight! Thanks.
Hi Zara - isn’t this a great soup! The flavors become more intense and the soup more delicious when you allow it to rest awhile. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I am salivating. I am salivating. I am salivating!!! That looks like I NEED to eat it! LOL. :o)
Hi Isle Dance - if you haven’t made gazpacho, make it, you won’t regret it.
Okay…I’m just noticing your amazing Kindle books. Way to go! Is Kindle a book turned into a digital file? Or is it an eBook sold via Amazon.com? Or do I not yet understand Kindle correctly? They look gorgeous. :o)
Isle Dance - Thank you! :-) Kindle is one of many ebook reader devices that you can use to view ebooks. It allows you to upload hundreds of ebooks. It is an ebook but it is set up to be viewed via The Kindle. In my case, both my recipe ebooks are available with or without the Kindle.
Yum! I’ve been throwing back gazpacho all summer, just trying to cram in as many tomatoes as I can before the season ends, but I haven’t put basil in mine so I’ll have to try your version! And we just got a Kindle too–aren’t they amazing?
Hi Hannah - I know what you mean, I’ve turned into a tomatoholic, just can’t get enough of them, especially the heirloom tomatoes. Congratulations of getting a Kindle. Actually, I don’t own one. Still thinking whether I really need it or not. Meantime, I have my much used and well-adored PowerBook to do all my electronic reading. Let me know if you try gazpacho with basil.
slurp!
This looks great. I’ve always avoided this soup for some reason, the name making me think it was something other than what it is. After looking at your picture, which I thought was salsa, I read the ingredients and was surprised that I liked all of them. I’m going to make this tonight. Isn’t it funny how the thoughts of childhood will hold you back sometimes?