You'll be happy to know all is forgiven. Seems I'm not the only one to have forgotten my sister's birthday. She read my blog post and called to say I had been keeping very good company in my neglect. Turns out one of her best friends and all of her co-workers were scrunched in the Bad Corner with me. The whole gang forgot her birthday. The irony? Robin works for the Alzheimer Society. Nuff said.
Moving onto today's topic. Soup. Colourful, isn't it?
The tomatoes and opal basil are from my garden. I'm so darned pleased it's ridiculous. You'd think I'd given birth or cured cancer. But as I confessed earlier, it was nature, not me, that produced a stellar crop.
After a delicious 150-calorie gazpacho at Pret a Manger during my travels, I decided to make a batch myself. While researching recipes I found an amazing variety of opinions on the appropriate texture for this soup. Some pureed everything until smooth, others simply diced the vegetables and tossed it all in tomato juice. A third camp did a little of each.
So, here's my recipe. Make it as chunky or smooth as you like. Being a middle child, I took the middle road and pureed only half the ingredients.
How do you like your gazpacho?
Gazpacho Soup
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 cups English cucumber, diced
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- 1/2 yellow pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/2 red onion, minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp sugar or honey
- 4 cups low-sodium tomato juice
- 1/4 tbsp fresh herbs, finely minced (cilantro OR basil OR dill - or any combination)
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
- sour cream (optional)
Instructions
For chunky soup
- Combine all the ingredients.
- Season to taste.
- Chill at least 2 hours before serving with a dollop of sour cream.
For semi- chunky soup
- Set aside half the tomatoes, half the cucumber and all of the yellow pepper.
- In batches, puree the remaining ingredients in a blender.
- Mix set aside vegetables into the pureed mixture.
- Season to taste.
- Chill at least 2 hours before serving with a dollop of sour cream.
For smooth soup
- In batches, puree all the ingredients in a blender (you can use a whole red pepper and omit the yellow for more intensely red soup).
- Season to taste.
- Chill at least 2 hours before serving with a dollop of sour cream.
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9 comments:
First of all, what's the lovely herb you've garnished your soup with?
My mother in law makes wonderful gazpacho, but it's only partly because of the soup itself. There's a tradition of garnishes in my husband's family: every time there's gazpacho, my MIL sets out bowls of chopped peanuts, chopped hard-boiled eggs, extra onion, bread crumbs, etc. It's fun to doctor the soup as you like, even though I thought adding egg to my gazpacho was a little weird. Love the peanuts w/ it, though!
Cheryl, your MIL's approach to gazpacho sounds wonderful. Peanuts? I'd have never thought of it, but why not?
As for the herb -- it's basil. I don't know the name of the variety, but it's very tiny and intense. I wonder if it's the reason no bugs attacked my tomatoes?
Looks like a great soup! Have you ever made a gazpacho with bread crumbs in it? It's not my cup of tea but a lot of other people seem to love it that way.
Glad to hear your sister isn't mad at you : )
Dana, the first time I had gazpacho it was made with bread and I didn't like it. The texture turned me off. I prefer it with the bread on the side -- although it's less authentic.
Your gazpacho soup looks so tasty!!
Celebrating the end of summer!
I love gazpacho soup too... first time I tasted it was from a carton box :-D After years of delays I decided to make it myself before summer's gone!
Thanks Sophie, and yes, this is an end-of-summer celebration. Warm days, cool nights. My tomato bounty won't last forever. :-(
Pixen, you had gazpacho from a box? I had no idea they sold uncooked soup that way. Please tell me your homemade version is better!
Looks lovely--so colorful! Wish I had a garden to grow such nice tomatoes and herbs... :)
Hungry Dog, it is wonderful to have space to grow my own tomatoes and basil. Until I have to weed it.
My vegetable patch isn't very big and until this year I was growing herbs and cherry tomatoes in pots, so don't let lack of land stop you. If you have a balcony or porch, you might be able to grow a few items yourself next year. Just a thought.
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