Friday, May 16, 2014

Gazpacho


When summer's here, it's time to break out the gazpacho. Serve it cold with some crusty bread. 


3 lbs tomatoes
Medium cucumber
Red bell pepper
Small yellow onion
2 slices white bread
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp sherry vinegar
2 tsp salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Basil leaves
(Tabasco sauce)

Core and stem the tomatoes, then finely chop them along with the onion, bell pepper and cucumber. Separate one quarter of the chopped vegetables and set them aside. Put the rest of the chopped vegetables in the food processor with the garlic, salt, vinegar, and bread. Blend thoroughly until the soup is smooth, then add the olive oil. Pouring the olive oil into the blender slowly and allowing it to get fully incorporated will give the gazpacho a creamier texture. Pour the mixture into a large bowl. Take the chopped vegetables that were set aside and stir them into the soup to give it a chunkier texture.  If you fancy it, add a couple of splashes of hot sauce to taste. Refrigerate overnight. Top with ground black pepper before serving and use basil to garnish.