Gazpacho Recipe: Refreshing and Simple Soup Recipe

During the summer months, you may not feel like eating a bowl of hot soup for lunch during the midday heat. Similarly, you may not feel like standing over a hot oven when the sun is out. A refreshing alternative is this quick, simple, and refreshing gazpacho recipe.

Gazpacho is a cold soup made with raw, blended vegetables. Although there are many variations of this cold soup, tomato is usually the predominant ingredient. According to Wikipedia, this is a traditional dish in both Spanish and Portuguese cuisine.

Although this dish is fantastic at any time of the year, it is particularly fresh and delicious during the summer months when tomatoes are in season. The fresher the tomatoes, the better the flavour of this soup. The Spanish usually use tomatoes on the vine, but you can use any ripe tomatoes that are readily available.

It is best to core the tomatoes by taking out the central section of white flesh from where the stem connects to the fruit to the base of the tomatoes. You can also remove the seeds if you want a smooth consistency to your soup, but this is optional.

Traditional Spanish gazpacho is made with green bell pepper, as is listed in this recipe. However, you can switch things up using any colour of bell pepper you have in your refrigerator. The traditional method also involves using stale bread with the crusts removed.

Here is a refreshing and simple gazpacho recipe.

Ingredients for Gazpacho Recipe

• 12 ripe tomatoes
• ½ cucumber
• 2 slices of stale white bread
• 1 green bell pepper
• ½ red onion
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• A splash of sherry or red wine vinegar
• Salt and black pepper to taste

How to Make the Gazpacho Recipe

1. Roughly chop the tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, and red onion. Chopping these ingredients will help to blend the ingredients into soup faster.
2. Add the chopped ingredients to a blender along with the olive oil, garlic cloves, sherry or red wine vinegar, cumin, salt, and black pepper.
3. Soak the slices of stale white bread in water in water for a minute to soften the bread, then wring out the water with your hands.
4. Add the soaked bread to the rest of the ingredients and blend the gazpacho again.
5. Chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving.

Gazpacho Recipe Serving Ideas

Although this soup is fantastic on its own, you can use toppings to make the soup visually appealing or to add extra flavours. Some ideas are:

• A swirl of cream or a blob of soured cream.
• Homemade croutons– These will give the soup extra crunch for texture.
• Chopped hard-boiled egg– In the south of Spain, a chopped hard-boiled egg is a popular topping for gazpacho.
• Flavoured oil– A drizzle of basil, garlic, or chilli oil works well.
• A sprinkle of fresh herbs- suggestions include chives, parsley, or basil.
• Crispy pancetta/ smoked bacon– crumbled pancetta or smoked bacon is a nice touch.

Additional Tips

• An alternative to soaking and wringing the stale bread is to blend the soup, push the stale bread into the centre of the soup, then leave the bread to absorb the juices for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, blend the soup again.
• Those who enjoy cold and refreshing soups may also enjoy our Borscht recipe.
• Add more or less garlic to suit your tastes.
• Try adding some chopped chilli if you like spicy food. Although this isn’t an ingredient traditionally used in Spanish or Portuguese gazpacho, it does work well.
• If you enjoy this gazpacho recipe, then you might also like our recipes for tomato, courgette, and pepper soup, bloody Mary tomato soup, cream of tomato soup, tomato and basil soup, and tomato and orange soup.