Enjoy the last breath of summer with our classic gazpacho recipe. But wait, what exactly is gazpacho? This pretty dish is a staple of Spanish cuisine, particularly in the southern region of Andalusia. It even has ancient roots, as it dates all the way back to Roman times! Gazpacho is a refreshing soup comprised of blended vegetables and served chilled. It's the perfect vehicle for your garden fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, herbs, and cucumbers. Read on for our favorite gazpacho recipe plus some tips for inventive garnishes for this classic. Bottoms up!
Before we begin, make sure to assemble the necessary kitchen items and ingredients for this recipe preparation.
Now that we have all that we need, it's time to cultivate a taste of Spain. For optimum taste, please allow overnight marinating time for this recipe for the flavors to mingle.
Begin by washing all produce with fruit and veggie wash. Next, remove vines from tomatoes and discard. Carefully peel and seed cucumber. Then, remove stem and seed from the bell peppers. Smash and peel garlic cloves. Peel red onion.
Add cucumber, onion, peppers, and garlic to blender or food processor. Pulse to chop the veggies, occasionally scraping the side of the container so everything gets properly processed. Be sure to not use the puree setting, as some chunky texture is preferred. Place mixture into large bowl.
And now to introduce the true star of the show, end of summer, sweet garden tomatoes. Place tomatoes into the food processor; there's no need to rinse between this step and the last. Puree until the consistency is smooth. Add to bowl with the other vegetable mixture. Pro tip: for extra silken tomatoes, pass through the fine mesh strainer before adding to bowl. This extra step is not necessary as it is based on texture preference.
In the same large bowl, mix in traditional olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, cumin, red pepper flakes. Stir into blended vegetables, cover with foil, and let sit overnight in refrigerator.
Immediately before serving, brush garlic confit olive oil onto stale pieces of bread. Then, toast until golden brown in a toaster oven.
Once ready to serve, pour chilled soup into small bowls or clear glasses (like stemless wine glasses). Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Carefully chiffonade some fresh basil, and add on top to adorn. Serve with garlicky toast for ultimate enjoyment.
While we love the classic garnish interpretation for gazpacho, we are pumped to include some more interesting approaches.
Whatever you do, play around with your favorite flavors and textures until you have a winning combination, and enjoy our amazing and easy gazpacho recipe.