Andalusian Gazpacho
Submitted by JR
Andalusian gazpacho with 3 pounds of fresh tomatoes, bread, garlic, olive oil, and white wine vinegar, served ice-cold with a spread of diced vegetable garnishes. No cooking required.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
0 minREADY
2 hrsThis is gazpacho the Andalusian way: a thick, bread-thickened cold soup blended from 3 pounds of ripe tomatoes, garlic, green pepper, white bread, olive oil, and white wine vinegar. It’s closer to a drinkable salad than a broth, and it tastes like summer in a bowl.
The bread is what separates authentic Andalusian gazpacho from the watery tomato juice versions. Crustless white bread cubes blended into the base give the soup body and a creamy, velvety texture without any cream. The olive oil emulsifies as it blends, creating a smooth, almost silky finish.
The garnishes are served in separate bowls so each person customizes their own: finely diced cucumber, onion, red pepper, green pepper, tomato, and fresh chervil. Ice cubes go directly in the soup cups to keep everything bracingly cold.
Kitchen Tips
- Use the ripest, most flavorful tomatoes you can find. Out-of-season tomatoes make bland gazpacho, and no amount of seasoning fixes that.
- Peel the tomatoes before blending. Skins leave bitter flecks in the smooth soup.
- Chill for at least 2 hours. The flavors develop and meld as it sits, and gazpacho served warm is just wrong.
- Taste and adjust the vinegar and salt after chilling. Cold dulls flavor, so you may need a bit more acid.
Variations
- Add a small cucumber to the blended base for a greener, more refreshing soup.
- Swap white wine vinegar for sherry vinegar for a more traditional Andalusian flavor.
- Drizzle each serving with extra virgin olive oil and a few croutons for texture.
Ingredients
Directions
Mash the garlic cloves.
Remove the crust from the bread and cut into cubes.
Chop one green pepper and peel the tomatoes.
Cut 2 slices from one of the tomatoes and reserve.
Process the garlic, bread, chopped pepper, tomatoes, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper to taste and sugar; if the mix seems thick, add a little cold water to make it soupy.
Chill.
Finely dice the cucumber, onion, red pepper and remaining green pepper, chervil and 2 reserved tomato slices.
Put each into a separate serving bowl.
Put a couple of ice cubes in chilled soup cups and pour the soup over.
Garnish with the diced vegetables.
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