Gazpacho
I served this the other night to a couple of my husband's colleagues visiting from Japan. It was so much more impressive than the work I put into it. And what's more is the kids ate the little bits that were left over!
I served this the other night to a couple of my husband's colleagues visiting from Japan. It was so much more impressive than the work I put into it. And what's more is the kids ate the little bits that were left over!
- 5 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 pinch black pepper to taste
- 8 fluid oz water
- 1/2 medium red onion finely chopped
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 1/4 medium cucumber finely diced
- 1/2 medium red bell pepper finely diced
- 1 medium green pepper finely diced
- 1 medium tomato finely diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper roughly chopped
- 3 slices white bread broken into pieces, crusts discarded
- 3 pounds tomato very ripe, peeled, de-seeded, chopped
- 1/4 medium cucumber peeled & chopped
- 6 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- -- garnish --
- 1 slice white bread cubed
- Carbohydrate 37.7450919061994 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 6.9877125 g
- Fiber 7.14100016191602 g
- Protein 6.7577603749925 g
- Saturated Fat 1.048265 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (579g)
- Sodium 218.0033249985 mg
- Sugar 30.6040917442834 g
- Trans Fat 0.650997499999999 g
- Calories 231 calories
Step-by-step
- First make the soup: put the pepper, garlic, pieces of bread, tomatoes, cucumber, vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper in a blender and process until smooth. Then pour into a bowl and add the water. Chill for at least 5 hours or overnight.
- Before serving: make the garnish. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the bread until golden. Drain on paper towels. In a bowl mix together all the remaining ingredients.
- To serve, pour the soup into serving bowls and sprinkle on a little bit of the fried bread, cucumber, peppers, tomato & onion to garnish.
How do you achieve a velvety texture in an uncooked soup without using dairy? Raw vegetable cellular walls require mechanical breakdown and fat integration to feel luxurious rather than watery. Utilizing completely ripe tomatoes changes the yield of natural juices, altering how much added water is necessary to reach a pourable consistency. Preserved or canned tomato products introduce pasteurized acidity and cooked flavors that ruin the bright, clean profile demanded by raw Spanish preparations. Swapping white bread for sourdough alters the starch structure, making the emulsion thicker or tangier depending on the loaf chosen. Consider these operational guidelines for optimal results:
- Peel and seed the tomatoes thoroughly because fibrous skins and hard seeds leave bitter particulate matter suspended in the liquid.
- Soak the bread pieces directly with the wet ingredients before pureeing so the starches hydrate evenly and bind the olive oil into a stable suspension.
- Chill the blended mixture for at least five hours to allow the garlic sulfur compounds to mellow and the temperature to drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Fry the garnish cubes in hot oil until golden brown and drain them on paper towels to maintain crisp textural contrast against the cold soup.
