Gazpacho
Gazpacho comes from Andalusia, where summer heat makes a raw, ice-cold soup more welcome than a cooked one. Most versions thicken the blend with a torn piece of stale white bread soaked in water; this one skips it and leans on the vegetables themselves, since a long, high-speed blend breaks down enough cucumber and pepper fiber to build the same silky body without flour or fat. Letting the chopped tomatoes rest with a small pinch of salt before blending draws out their juice by osmosis, so the soup needs no added water and tastes fully of itself. Serve it properly cold, in a glass rather than a bowl if you have one, with a spoonful of the reserved diced vegetables floated on top.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb Fresh tomatoes, very ripe (about 680 g), cored and roughly chopped, juice reserved
- 1 Cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped (about 300 g); set aside 1/4 cup (60 ml) finely diced for garnish
- 1/2 Bell peppers, red, cored and roughly chopped; set aside 2 tbsp finely diced for garnish
- 2 tbsp Red onions, roughly chopped
- 1 clove Garlic, peeled
- 2 tbsp Sherry vinegar
- 1/4 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
For no added salt, skip the pinch on the tomatoes. The salt only speeds the juice along: very ripe tomatoes give up plenty on their own during the long blend, so the soup still builds its body and needs no water. Let the chopped tomatoes rest a few minutes anyway to loosen their juice, and lean on an extra splash of sherry vinegar to keep the flavor sharp.
Method
- Core the tomatoes and chop them roughly, then put them in a large bowl with a small pinch of salt. Let them sit for 15 minutes: the salt pulls juice out of the flesh by osmosis, and that juice becomes the soup's only liquid, so no water gets added.
- Peel the cucumber and chop it roughly, setting aside about 1/4 cup (60 ml) finely diced for garnish. Core the bell pepper and chop it roughly the same way, saving 2 tablespoons finely diced for garnish.
- Combine the tomatoes with their released juice, the roughly chopped cucumber and bell pepper, the onion, and the garlic in a blender. Blend on high for a full 1 to 2 minutes, well past the point it first looks smooth: this long blend is what breaks the vegetable fiber down fine enough to feel creamy, the job a torn piece of bread would otherwise do.
- Add the sherry vinegar and black pepper and blend a few seconds more to combine. Taste it: the tomato should taste turned up loud, with the vinegar sharpening the edges. Add more vinegar a teaspoon at a time if the soup tastes flat.
- For a silkier texture, pass the soup through a fine mesh sieve, pressing the solids with the back of a ladle and discarding the pulp left behind. This step is optional. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, ideally overnight: gazpacho only improves patiently cold, and the chill also mellows the raw bite of the onion and garlic.
- Ladle into chilled glasses or bowls and top each with the reserved diced cucumber and bell pepper. Serve right away, since the soup separates the longer it sits at the table.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 65 calories, 2 g protein, 3 g fiber, 45 mg sodiumabout 25 mg sodium (salt-free version). Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
