My husband’s favorite soup is gazpacho. This is ironic since he doesn’t like tomatoes! Nevertheless, gazpacho is a staple at this time of year particularly when the heat is almost unbearable. There are so many variations on the gazpacho theme. In Spain, Portugal and many Mediterranean countries, the soup has a base of bread (sorry, not a fan). The Moors used almonds and fruit to create a white gazpacho. Many cuisines today have their own version of gazpacho. There is red (tomato) gazpacho with or without bread, green gazpacho using tomatillos, green peppers and green herbs, watermelon gazpacho and more. Gazpacho is a wonderful way to use garden herbs and vegetables and an excellent way to finish up last year’s canned tomatoes with a summer vibe.
Gazpacho
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...Cool down in summer with a bowl of gazpacho. It’s delicious and a great way to use up some of your canned tomatoes as well as fresh garden herbs and vegetables.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cucumber, cleaned, seeded, and diced
- 4 cups of home canned tomatoes or fresh tomatoes blanched and peeled. Even store-bought canned tomatoes will work (28 oz can).
- ½ cup each of diced red and yellow or orange pepper
- 1 tsp finely chopped jalapeno pepper or roasted peeled poblano pepper
- 1/3 cup Sherry vinegar
- 2 tsp minced garlic or minced garlic scapes
- ½ cup mild white onion chopped
- Handful of fresh chopped herbs from the garden (cilantro, parsley, basil, oregano, tarragon etc). Whatever you have, add it to the soup.
- 3 TBSP olive oil
- Hot sauce
Instructions
Chunky or not: Some like it smooth and others like gazpacho chunky. It’s a preference. You can finely chop the vegetables or chop and give them a whiz in a food processor or blender. In my view, you want some chunks!
Spicy or not: If you prefer not spicy, don’t add hot sauce or even jalapeno. If you like spice, add hot sauce. I add 2 heaping tsp of Cholula hot sauce. Yes, we like heat! Alternately, just serve hot sauce at the table and let people choose their own heat.
Serve the soup chilled with as many additions as your wish. Additions: Dollop of sour cream, Grated cheddar cheese,Toasted croutons, Additional chives or herbs, Chopped avocado, Toasted almonds
No Comments