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Gazpacho is the perfect chilled summer soup to cool you off and help you get your vitamins!
This cold soup brings me back to my childhood. My mom used to make it for us on hot summer days. She always added in chopped kalamata olives for me because I’m obsessed. Gazpacho is a Spanish dish and usually has a tomato base.
I’ve seen it done in various different ways, but I don’t deviate too much from the recipe I grew up with. My mom made a few tweaks here and there, and then I made my own tweaks, but it’s very similar to the original in Robert Carrier’s classic cookbook Great Dishes of the World. Our family really loves garlic, so more garlic is added into ours, naturally 🙂
If you’re in a pinch, you can eat it on the day you make it (just make sure it’s COLD, and I suggest adding a cube of ice into each bowl prior to serving). It does taste better to me when you leave it overnight, however.
If you’re having guests over, I suggest putting the chopped veggies in little dishes so they can garnish the soup themselves. If you just want to get on with eating, there’s nothing wrong with adding the chopped veggies into the soup and then refrigerating it all.
See the veggies in the pictures? Those were chucked into the remaining soup right after the photos were taken 🙂 Just make sure you don’t chuck the croutons in early unless you want a soggy mess!
I hope you’ll love this traditional gazpacho recipe!
Questions? Let me know in the comments!
Gazpacho
Ingredients
- 6 medium tomatoes
- 5 cloves garlic divided
- 1 green pepper
- 1 cucumber
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 Spanish onion
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 cups tomato juice
- Salt & pepper to taste (use cayenne pepper if desired)
- Kalamata olives to taste (optional)
- 2 slices bread
- 1 tablespoon butter
- Ice (optional)
Instructions
- Roughly chop the tomatoes and add them to a blender along with four cloves of the garlic (mince the garlic then add it to the blender). Blend until smooth (you may have to pack the tomatoes down to get the blender going). Transfer to a pot or large bowl.
- Roughly chop half the cucumber, the whole onion, and half the pepper. Add to the blender along with the olive oil, lemon juice, and tomato juice. Blend until smooth then pour it into the container with the blended tomatoes and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Give it a stir and put it in the fridge. You can either chill it for a couple of hours or chill it overnight.
- You have two options regarding the remaining veggies. If you're planning on adding the chopped veggies directly into the soup, I suggest chopping them right away and adding them to the soup base. If you want to serve them in little bowls like I have pictured, I suggest chopping them closer to the time you're going to serve the soup. I removed the pits from the kalamata olives and cut them into small pieces.
- To make the croutons, cut bread into desired size croutons and fry with the butter. Cook on medium heat stirring occasionally until the croutons are browned (approx. 10 minutes). I suggest adding the remaining clove of garlic (mince it) a minute or two before the croutons are done so you don't burn it. Make the croutons close to the time you want to serve the soup.
- Serve the gazpacho chilled. If desired, add an ice cube to each bowl right before serving it. Garnish with the remaining chopped vegetables (if you didn't add them to the soup already) and the croutons.
Notes
- Adapted from Robert Carrier's Great Dishes of the World.
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