Wednesday, April 27, 2011

GAZPACHO

I know soup doesn’t exactly scream summer. But Gazpacho does!

Gazpacho is a cold tomato based soup that perfectly compliments any summertime lunch, snack, or dinner. Topped with fresh croutons, diced bell peppers, and cucumbers, the cold combination of textures and flavors is insanely summery and refreshing.

Keep a nice tall pitcher of it in your fridge, and you have an instant and delicious soup ready to go anytime!

I really like this
recipe by Jose Andres. It sticks to the basics without adding too many extra seasonings and ingredients. You end up with a wonderful soup that really showcases the flavor and freshness of the vegetables.

Gazpacho
By Jose Andres
Serves 6-8

For the soup:
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled
¼ cup sherry vinegar (mostly sold in specialty grocery stores and gourmet markets)
½ cup Oloroso sherry (if you can’t find Oloroso, a sweet sherry will work fine)
¾ cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil

For the garnish:
2 1 inch-thick slices rustic bread
¼ cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
½ cucumber, diced
½ green bell pepper, seeded and diced
½ red bell pepper, seeded and diced
Sea salt to taste

To make the soup, combine the cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, sherry, olive oil and 2 cups of water in a food processor or blender. Puree the ingredients until everything is well blended into a thick pink liquid. Pour the gazpacho through a medium-hole strainer into a pitcher. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

For the garnish: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes and toss in a mixing bowl with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Spread the bread on a baking sheet and bake on the middle rack until golden brown, about 10 minutes, turning halfway through. Set the croutons aside to cool.

To serve, pour the chilled soup into cups or bowls. Top with croutons, cucumbers and peppers. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.









R