Gazpacho was a revelation to me. Who knew I could make a soup without turning on the stove in about 5 minutes flat. It’s perfect to use up all sorts of good veg in the fridge, and it is healthy. Plus, I can do it in bits and pieces if baby starts crying and I need to be away for a few minutes. All you need is a blender and some good tomatoes as the tastiness of the soup will directly depend on the quality of the tomatoes.
Gazpacho
Adapted from Fine Cooking Aug/Sep 2012 Edition
2 pounds tomatoes cored and quartered
1/2 green pepper roughly chopped
1/2 red pepper roughly chopped
1/3 english cucumber roughly chopped
1/4 cup packed bits of soft bread
6 tbsp olive oil
4 tsp sherry vinegar
1 small clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Put everything in a blender and pulse until things are chopped up a bit more. Next, blend until smooth and let chill. Yes, that’s it.
Note: For the bread I used half a whole wheat hamburger bun and it worked fine. I also used more than 1/2 both a green and red pepper and it was great. The garnish you see in the photo is coriander (cilantro).
Variations:
Chunky Gazpacho
My friends do a fantastic gazpacho where they chop tomatoes, celery, cucumber, red and green peppers and throw it in some clamato juice. It makes a lovely crunchy refreshing cold soup.
Green Gazpacho – The Montreal Gazette recently published a recipe for a green gazpacho which I made and was lovely. Article is here.
Watermelon Gazpacho – Shown in this months Bon Appetit magazine, this looks quite interesting and refreshing! Recipe is here
Michelle Little
Writer & Photographer
