I don't want to repeat a lot of recipes on my site, but I do love gazpacho. When Cooks Illustrated offered one I had to try it. I made it one Saturday and left it to the fridge over night. The next day I took it to Stern Grove for the Natalie MacMaster show. (GREAT show.) While I think the other fresh tomato recipe is better, this one got such rave reviews I had to put it out too. (Thanks for the compliments Sarah!)
A few things to note. Good tomatoes are key. If they're all green and hard it won't be as good - duh. However, this recipe can get by with less perfect tomatoes. That's because it gets a boost from good tomato juice. Cooks had a whole discussion and thought Welch's was the top dog. My store didn't have it so I used Campbell's and the people loved it. Lastly, the key to a great presentation is having all the vegetables diced to about the same size. You don't want the tomatoes to be big and the cucumbers tiny. I amped up the garlic, because I'm a garlic hound.
Serves: 8
Time: 1 hour working plus an 4 hour rest.
A. | good red tomatoes | 1.5 pounds | |
red bell peppers | 1 pound | ||
cucumbers | 2 | ||
garlic | 4 cloves | ||
white onion | 0.5 medium | A whole onion is too much. | |
red wine vinegar | 0.3 cup | ||
balsamic wine vinegar | 2 tablespoons | ||
salt | 0.25 teaspoon | ||
fresh ground black pepper | 0.25 teaspoon | ||
ingredient | amount | ||
Cut tomatoes in half and remove the seeds. Peel the cucumber and remove seeds. Remove the seeds and stem from the pepper. Dice the tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, and onion into 1/4 inch cubes. Uniform size makes a big difference in this soup. Mince the garlic very finely. Combine tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumber, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and vinegars. Let stand for 5 minutes. |
B. | tomato juice | 5 cups | I used Campbell's, Cooks recommends Welch's |
Tabasco sauce | 1 teaspoon | ||
Habanero sauce | 1/8 teaspoon | ||
Mix in tomato juice and hot sauces (careful with that Habanero sauce, a little goes a looooong way). Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. |
C. | extra virgin olive oil | 0.25 cup | |
When ready to serve, remove one cup of the mixed vegetables. Use a handheld food processor or blender to purée the rest. I have also served it without this step and while it is good, the purée is a big step better. Spoon into bowls, add a spoonful of the reserved chopped veggies and drizzle a little olive oil in each bowl. Or mix it all together now and put it into a thermos bottle for your picnic.
|