I love a light lunch! One of my all-time favorites is Spanish Gazpacho. Gazpacho is a creamy and chilled tomato soup that originated in Andalusia, Spain. It is made in so many different ways, but I personally like it smooth, dense, and chilled.
I love a simple recipe with fresh ingredients. I love going to my local market, buying fresh produce, and making a fresh meal. Gazpacho also goes great when you host a barbeque and you want an easy appetizer. You can also make it in advance and freshen it up right before you serve. Here is my simple recipe. It tastes the best when the ingredients are super fresh!
- Heirloom Beefsteak Tomatoes (if you can’t find those, go for plum tomatoes or tomatoes of different colors)
- Cucumbers
- Red Bell Peppers
- Shallot
- Garlic (if you’d like)
- Herbs
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Balsamic Vinegar
Start off by making a small x incision in the bottom of each tomato and drop them in a bowl of boiling water. Leave them there for at least 4 minutes. Then carefully remove the tomatoes from the water, and remove the skin. It should come out pretty easily.
At the same time, place a slightly stale crusty bread in a bowl with cold water and let it sit for 10 minutes until it softens. Squeeze as much water as possible out of the bread and tear it into small pieces.
Roughly chop the tomatoes, cucumber, and the red bell pepper (don’t forget to remove the seeds).
Place the tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumber, shallot, bread, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper in a blender and process until smooth and creamy. If you like texture, you can stop blending when you like. After it is blended to your liking, you chill it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or serve it as room temperature. I personally prefer a drizzle of my favorite olive oil (this is when you bring out the big guns), and mix of diced cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado and chives on top.
If you want to make your gazpacho super special, you can try watermelon gazpacho by adding watermelon to the blender. There are many ways to make your gazpacho special. Adding avocado in your gazpacho is another way too! Let me know how yours turn out!
