Gazpacho - a refreshingly cold, raw tomato based soup from Spain

A delicious, healthy and refreshing chilled soup from Spain.

Made predominantely from raw tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, onion and garlic blended together with sherry vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, this soup can be anything from a starter, to a main or a tapa - and on a hot summer's day it's wonderful to be able to just reach into the fridge and pour yourself some out!

 

 

Makes approximately 1.25 litres (or see Notes for double).

Ingredients
(See Notes at the bottom of the page for double quantities, for ease of use)

• 750g ripe, tasty tomatoes (yields 700g after coring), e.g. large, on the vine.
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1/2 green long or bell pepper
• 1 long red pepper
• 1/2 large or 1 small (red) onion
• 1 stick celery (optional)
• 1 small clove garlic, finely chopped or crushed
  
• 1/4 to 1/2 large red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped (optional)

Seasoning ingredients

• 1 to 1.5 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 tbsp sugar (optional, to taste depending on flavour of tomatoes)
• 1 to 2 tbsp high quality sherry vinegar (to taste)
• 65g high quality extra virgin olive oil

Garnishes

Finely diced salad items such as cucumber, red and / or green pepper, red and / or brown onion, avocado,chopped hard-boiled egg, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil at the end.

Method

1. Remove the cores from the tomatoes and peppers, and de-seed the peppers. (There is no need to skin any of the vegetables)

2. Roughly chop all the vegetables into large chunks, then add to a food processor (with the garlic and chilli if using) and blend until almost at the consistency you require.

3. Add the salt, sherry vinegar, and optional sugar, then whilst blending, slowly pour in the olive oil until it is all incorporated, and taste for seasoning.

4. Enjoy lightly chilled, with your preferred garnishes on top. I find mine lasts for several days in the fridge (if it doesn't all get eaten!) in a large sterilised bottle or jar - shake before serving as it may seperate a little when stored. Technically speaking, if it's a smooth gazpacho, you can freeze it, but after defrosting it, you'll most likely need to reblend it to get the texture back. Not a good idea to freeze a chunkier gazpacho as it spoils the texture.

Notes

Gazpacho can also contain stale bread, however I find this is deliciously thick already, and as my daughter is coeliac, I have made my version gluten free.

Doubled up version (makes approximately 2.5 litres, and just fits into a magimax CE! I like to blend it using the Smoothie programme a couple of times, and then whizz it some more on speed 18 on the Expert programme until it's our preferred texture).

Ingredients
(For 2.5 litres)

• 1.5kg large, ripe vine tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 1 green long or bell pepper
• 2 long red peppers
• 1 large or 2 small red onions
• 2 sticks celery (optional)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 to 1 large red chilli, de-seeded (optional)

Seasoning ingredients

(These are to our taste, depending on the ripeness of the tomatoes, so add salt and vinegar to your own tastes gradually until you're happy with the flavour, or you might find it too salty /  acidic)

• 1 scant tbsp salt (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp sugar (optional, to taste)
• 4 tbsp high quality sherry vinegar (to taste)
• 130g high quality extra virgin olive oil