Gazpacho Recipe

When it' so hot that you don't feel like eating, never mind cooking, try this cold Spanish soup.

Difficulty: Easy.

Prep time: 15 minutes + 2 hours or more chilling time.

Servings: 4 soup bowls (or 6 small bowls).

Before You Begin

Ingredients

• 900 grams (4 large) Tomatoes, fresh, ripe, seeded. Cut the ends off and scoop out the seeds with a spoon, or just push the seeds out with your thumb! Large tomatoes weigh about 225 grams (8 ounces) each.
• 150 grams (1 cup) Bell Pepper (Green or Red), seeded. This is about 4 Japanese "Piman".
• 200 grams (1 medium) Cucumber, peeled and seeded. Japanese-style cucumbers are very thin, so I use 2 of them. For this batch I even left the skin on, which explains why the soup in this photo is green rather than the usual pink or red.
• 85 grams (1/2 medium) Onion (Red or Yellow).
• 11 grams (2 cloves) Fresh Garlic, chopped.
• 57 grams (1 thick slice) Thick White Bread without crust (optional). The Bread adds a little texture.
• 240 ml (1 cup) Tomato Juice (optional). Some people prefer extra-chunky Gazpacho without the Tomato Juice.
• 45 ml (3 tbsp) Olive Oil.
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) Vinegar (Sherry, Red Wine, or Balsamic).
• 5.69 grams (1 tsp) Salt.
• 1.17 grams (1/2 tsp) Black Pepper, fresh ground.
• 0.51 grams (1/2 tsp) Cumin Seed or Cumin Powder, optional but recommended. If using Cumin Powder, use half as much.

Preparation

1. Deseed the Tomatoes. One way is to cut them in half, perpendicular to the stem. You can squish them slightly to break up the structure, and then scoop out the seeds with a spoon. If you are ambitious you can scoop the seeds and gel into a sieve, and then push the gel through to a bowl so the resulting liquid can be used as part of the Tomato Juice component.
2. Deseed the Bell Peppers, and if you are using a large American-style Cucumber, peel it and remove the seeds.
3. Combine the liquid (Olive Oil, Vinegar, and optional Tomato Juice) and spices (Salt, Black Pepper, and Cumin) in a large cup or small bowl.
4. Soak the optional Bread in water and squeeze out the excess water.
5. Cut the vegetables and Bread into large chunks and purée them with some of the liquid for one minute in a blender or food processor. You will probably need to do this in 3 or 4 batches to make it fit.
6. Combine the chopped or puréed mixture and any remaining liquid in a sealable container. The basic recipe makes about 2 liters (about 2 quarts).
7. Give this all one last vigorous shake or stir to make sure the liquids and spices are distributed well.
8. Seal the container, and chill for 2 hours or more.
9. At serving time, add the optional toppings (see serving suggestions).

Serving Suggestions

Storage