Tomato Gazpacho ♥ Recipe

How to make Tomato Gazpacho, the classic Spanish soup. This recipe makes a big batch and should be reserved for the best summer tomatoes and other late-summer vegetables. As humble as gazpacho is, this stuff is worthy of an occasion.

~recipe & photo updated 2010~

2005: So don't you some times just know you have a kindred spirit, even if you haven't yet met in the real world? So it's been for a long time with the multi-talented food blogger of Simply Recipes, one of TIME's Coolest Websites of 2006, published just yesterday. Early on, Elise ever-so-gently taught me the ropes of food blogging etiquette, something I've repeated for other new bloggers (and as recently as yesterday) always mentioning Elise's own early kindnesses. Plus, nine times out of ten, the food Elise and her family cooks looks like it could come straight from my kitchen!

So with a dozen gazpacho recipes in contention, I chose hers. It was a big hit at a recent gathering. Many of us appreciated that this is NOT a spicy gazpacho. Now we all like a spicy gazpacho on occasion but too many err on the side of spice; that said, this recipe, too, could be kicked up if that's your taste. But I chose to make tonight's version all about the flavor of wonderful local tomatoes.

So many thanks, Elise, for showing me the ropes and for one terrific recipe for gazpacho! Since making yours, I've twice had good-restaurant versions and they simply didn't measure up.

2010: Gazpacho is a classic summer dish, served cold, either as a starter or a light meal. It's that good! I was quite stunned about how good this is. I think you just might adore it ...

TOMATO GAZPACHO RECIPE

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 24 hours
Makes a bunch, 12 cups in 2005 and 9 cups in 2010

This recipe makes too much for a kitchen-size blender so it helps to work in batches. To be efficient, prep the vegetables up front and divide into fourths. For the first batch, fill the blender with 1 cup of tomato juice plus the other Blender Ingredients plus about a fourth of the vegetables; process and transfer it to a large bowl. Continue on, processing 1 cup tomato juice with a fourth of the vegetables.

THE VEGGIES
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 a large red onion, chopped
6 ripe medium-size tomatoes, chopped

BLENDER INGREDIENTS
4 cups tomato juice, 1 cup at a time
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil, optional (see TIPS)
Zest and juice of a lemon (essential, don't skip these)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (see TIPS)
6 drops Tabasco
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chive
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley

TO FINISH
Salt & pepper
More Worcestershire?
More Tabasco?

THE VEGGIES Prep the veggies and set aside.

BLENDER Add 1 cup of tomato juice and the remaining Blender Ingredients to the blender; process, just for a few pulses to blend. Add about 1/4 of the vegetables but don't pack the blender, otherwise it'll get stuck. Blend til the texture you want is achieved, then transfer to a large bowl. Add another cup of tomato juice and more veggies, transfer to the big bowl. Continue until all the veggies are blended in. Stir together in the big bowl. Taste, season and add Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco to taste. Refrigerate for 24 hours before serving. Serve cold.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
With the olive oil, per cup: 90 Calories; 2 g Protein; 5 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 12 g Carb; 2 g Fiber; NetCarb10; 28 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 33 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 2 points

Without the olive oil, per cup: 50 Calories; 2 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 12 g Carb; 2 g Fiber; 28 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 33 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point (.5 to be exact)

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
2010: Be sure to use really ripe tomatoes. This year I bought a large bag of very ripe and somewhat bruised tomatoes for $1. After the bruised parts were sliced off, what remained was decadently ripe. 2005 and 2010: Elise peels and seeds the tomatoes, I don't find it necessary.
BLENDER vs FOOD PROCESSOR 2005: The recipe I nearly-but-didn't make came from My Kitchen in Spain which devotes an entire chapter to gazpacho. For an entire summer, author Janet Mendel made the classic Spanish peasant soup in a food processor, then returned to the blender for better texture. She advised that a high-powered blender was important. So I checked the bottom of mine (check, at least 300 watts) but still worried if it'd have enough oomph to deal with celery and bell peppers. It did but only, I believe, because I worked in batches, using just enough liquid to squish everything around but not so much for the vegetables to get lost in the blender.
TIMING 2005: It's really important that this SIT for 24 hours before serving, it truly does take that long for the flavors to meld into something special. 2010: This time, the gazpacho was completely delicious straight out of the blender.
OLIVE OIL 2005: I omitted the olive oil on Elise's ingredient list, I just didn't find it necessary so this is a non-fat gazpacho. But 1/4 cup is miniscule for something yielding 12 cups and it might, indeed, smooth the finish. Plus, now that I've read more of My Kitchen in Spain, I know that "there is no such thing as true gazpacho without olive oil". So next time I will add the olive oil back in, just to see. 2010: I did use the olive oil and whether or not it was the olive oil that 'made' the gazpacho or not, I don't know. It did have a smoother feel, a lovely mouthfeel.
WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE 2010: My notes from 2006 suggest that worcestershire sauce is important and also makes the gazpacho "more red". But I was out and so skipped it: the gazpacho was still oh-so-good.
HOW to SERVE GAZPACHO Consider serving gazpacho in champagne glasses, so festive! To serve tableside as the first course, consider serving in a trifle bowl, so impressive!
GARNISHING GAZPACHO My favorite 'garnish' for gazpacho is a simple swirl of cream. For a dinner party, I garnished the bowls with bits of feta and fresh herbs: these strong flavors really took AWAY from the brightness of the vegetables themselves.

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MORE FAVORITE RECIPES for SUMMER TOMATOES
~ Fire-Charred Tomatoes ~
~ Old Liz's Old-Fashioned Cucumber & Tomato Salad ~
~ Fresh Tomato with Fresh Mozzarella ~
~ more tomato recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Summer's Tomato Soup ~
~ Panzanella ~
~ Ratatouille ~
~ more tomato recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column

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