I have always had a strange affinity for tomatoes. There’s something about the rich color and the variations of flavor they have (depending on how they’re cooked) that always surprises me. Every chance I have to consume more, I’m taking it. Steamed, crushed, baked, simmered down into a light but tangy sauce- trust me, it’ll be gone. It surprised me then when I discovered gazpacho.

Gazpacho is a traditional tomato based Spanish soup from the Andalusian region. It has a simple, refreshing taste and is made with wholesome, fresh vegetables. Just imagine my delight (and honestly, suddenly salivating mouth) when discovering this soup which integrates the flavorful, heartiness of ripe tomatoes and contrasting tastes of other everyday vegetables like red onion and cucumber. I prefer to think of it as tomato soup’s much more sophisticated sister, but perhaps that’s just me.

There are thousands of varieties of gazpacho and when searching for a recipe, it’s very easy to get lost among the variations. However, after relentless searching, I have found (and made) a basic, everyday gazpacho which is mostly hassle free and absolutely delicious. The most wonderful thing I found about this dish though is that gazpacho is one of those forgiving recipes, meaning it’s easily adaptable to your own taste. If you like one ingredient more than the others, feel free to add more in there! This is an easy recipe to make and a fantastic one to experiment with. Now, as I said before, this dish is served cold, so it will need time to chill in the fridge before serving!

Adapted/ Made from the following recipe: http://www.tasteloveandnourish.com/2014/08/26/gazpacho/

 

Ingredients

 

Slices of a baguette, about 1 inch each

2.5 lbs of tomatoes

1 to 2 cucumbers (depending on size and how much you like cucumber)

1/3 of a red onion

¼ tsp. cumin

¼ cup olive oil

2 ½ tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 ½ tsps. sea salt

 

Good news: all of these ingredients are completely accessible at your local grocery store! Bad news: in my experience, you’re going to have a hard time actually finding good bread. If this is the case, I suggest buying an unbaked loaf and cooking it at home to make sure your bread is nice and crusty. Even though the one I bought was “ready to serve,” I ended up throwing it in the oven for a few minutes just to give it that nice crackle sound when you cut it.

 

Directions

 

Take your baguette and cut 3 or 4 pieces off and put in a separate bowl. Place a mesh sieve on top. Wash, halve, and core your tomatoes. Take the tomatoes and squeeze over the bread. The sieve is there to catch seeds and pulp. Warning: It can be very satisfying, but also very disgusting to squeeze a tomato. It will make a squelching sound.

It won’t take much to get the majority of the juice out so stop before you squeeze your entire tomato into a pulp.

Note: If you have kids, this would be the perfect job for them.

Other note: Fresh tomato juice will make the soup richer, but you can use canned tomato juice or water with the same effect. Just as long as the bread has time to soak!

 

 

Place tomatoes into your blender or food processor once done.

After squeezing all your tomatoes, you will end up with a sieve full of seeds and pulp. It will be tempting just to grab the rest of the pulp and put it in your blender with the rest of your tomatoes, however, this means you will end up with soup full of seeds and may end up having to restrain the tomato mixture. I’m just letting you know, it’s not fun at all. Instead, take a rubber spatula (or your hand) and press the pulp against the bottom of the sieve to make sure your getting as much juice as you can.

 

 

Let bread soak for at least 20 minutes. (The time it takes to prep and blend all other ingredients should be perfect for this!)

Take your tomatoes and blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl with room for all other ingredients.

 

 

Roughly chop and seed cucumbers and onion. Place into blender with olive oil, vinegar, cumin, garlic, and salt. Blend until smooth. Poor into tomato mixture and stir.

 

 

Take bread and put into blender and blend until smooth. Add to tomato mixture and stir.

Cover the gazpacho with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours before serving.

You can garnish with any savory vegetables or spices, but I garnished mine with red onion, avocado, olive oil, salt, pepper, and of course, an extra slice of crispy baguette.