Gazpacho | Spanish Cold Tomato Soup

This month for the International Food Challenge, we are heading to Spain and Sharanya of Just Not The Cakes, the host for this month chose the Andalusian cuisine. Andalusia is one of the most populous and second largest communities in Spain. The cooking in Andalusian cuisine is dominated by the use of olive oil. I chose to make Gazpacho soup which is the most popular dish of this region.  

Gazpacho is a tomato based vegetable soup, traditionally served cold. This soup is eaten often in the southern part of Spain called Andalusia. Gazpacho is widely consumed during the summer months as its very refreshing and healthy to have on a hot day. The soup base is made from tomatoes and served with fresh vegetables, croutons for crunchiness and a drizzle of olive oil. You can serve some toasted bread or crostini alongside this soup for a complete meal.

The soup should not be watery or thin, so addition of stale bread helps in thickening the soup. You can use either green or red capsicum, but I used both to balance the flavor of tomatoes with slight bitterness from green capsicum and sweetness from red capsicum. Olive oil adds creaminess to the soup, so add lots while blending the soup and some extra while serving. Gazpacho is an ideal make-ahead recipe that just gets better with time. Make this soup as an appetizer or serve with some toasted bread as a main dish.

Gazpacho

Spanish Cold Tomato Soup

Print Pin Recipe

Servings 4

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 6 large tomatoes
• 1 medium cucumber
• 1 medium green capsicum
• 1 medium red capsicum
• 1 medium red onion
• 1 clove garlic
• ¼ cup / 50 ml olive oil
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ¼ tsp cumin powder
• 6 bread slices
• 2 tbsp olive oil for croutons
• 1 celery stalk with leaves
• ¼ cup blanched almonds
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Cut a cross in the base of each tomato and then blanch them in batches in a pan of boiling water. Transfer to a bowl of iced water and cool.
• Peel the skin, halve them and remove the seeds. Place the halved tomatoes in a bowl and strain the seeds and juice over the tomatoes.
• Remove the crusts from bread. Soak 3 slices in a bowl of water for 10 minutes, then squeeze out excess water and set aside.
• Cut onion, cucumber, capsicum into half and remove seeds from cucumber and capsicums. Roughly chop one half of the cucumber, capsicums and onion.
• Process soaked bread and garlic in a food processor until a paste forms. Add tomatoes and roughly chopped vegetables and process until smooth.
• With motor running, gradually add olive oil, then add vinegar, lemon juice and cumin. Strain the soup and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Refrigerate soup for 1 hour to chill or overnight until ready to serve.
• Meanwhile finely chop the remaining onion, cucumber,capsicums and celery stalks with leaves. Keep them separately.
• Heat a small frying pan over medium heat and add almonds. Cook tossing until golden and remove from pan.
• Cut the remaining bread slices into small cubes. Heat oil over medium heat in the same pan and add bread cubes. Cook tossing until golden.
• Serve chilled gazpacho drizzled with extra olive oil and with vegetable accompaniments, croutons and almonds passed separately.

Notes

• Use fresh and ripe tomatoes. Choose tomatoes that are not too sour.
• Use white vinegar if sherry vinegar is not available. 

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Spanish