Quick and Easy Summer Gazpacho
Every year mid-summer, the tomatoes start rolling in. And I mean, if you’ve got a garden or a farm share, you are bombarded with tomatoes! Personally, I’ve never had a problem eating them all- tossing them into green salads or pasta dishes, or even eating one like an apple. But I’ve felt inspired to try something different: gazpacho.
This cool and refreshing soup is perfect for mid-summer days where I live in Rhode Island. We need to do something with all those tomatoes, and the heat and humidity can be so oppressive that the thought of cooking fills you with dread. So: cold soup? Why not?!
The other thing I liked about this dish is that not only is it super easy to make, it’s loaded with veggies of various colors: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, garlic... I’ve designed this version of gazpacho to be gluten-free & dairy-free. You can serve it as an appetizer or in shooter glasses (as I’m doing in the photos here) to create a semi-fancy party snack.
About Gazpacho
Gazpacho originated in the Andalucía region of southern Spain, which makes sense when you think about the climate there: it gets pretty darn hot in the summer. The traditional recipe usually incorporates stale bread, and always uses the freshest produce available, especially vine ripened tomatoes. If you can’t access fresh, ripe tomatoes (that is, if it’s not tomato season where you live), then you might want to wait until tomatoes are in season. This is one of those times where the quality of the final dish absolutely depends on the quality of the ingredients. Do not cut corners. You want the freshest produce you can get, ideally organic.
Another key ingredient is olive oil: you’ll want to choose the best quality extra virgin olive oil that you can afford. Flavor is key here.
A Creamy and Refreshing Gazpacho Soup
In the recipe I give you here, I’ve made a few adjustments to the traditional formula. The result is a recipe that’s quick and easy, gluten-free, dairy-free, and refreshing.
Leave out the bread
To make this soup gluten-free and even more light and refreshing, I’ve eliminated the white bread.
Add almonds to make it creamy
To make this soup a little creamy, I added a half cup of almonds. This is certainly not the traditional recipe, but at the same time, almonds are a common ingredient in many Spanish dishes so I felt I wasn’t straying too far from Spanish cuisine. The other thing I liked about adding almonds is that it boosts the overall nutritional profile of the dish, adding some healthy whole-food fat and protein.
A few tips when it comes to the almonds: First, you must use raw and unsalted almonds. Second, you need to soak them, ideally overnight. This is not optional. Third, I took the time to peel the skins off and I suggest you do the same. If you have soaked the nuts long enough, you'll be able to easily slide the skins off using just your fingers. Finally, if you don’t have a high speed blender- like a Vitamix or a Blend-Tec- you probably won’t be able to purée the almonds, and so you might want to omit this ingredient. The Nutribullet can probably handle it, but you may need to work in batches.
Blend it all, then chill
I tossed all the ingredients into the blender and just puréed. Some versions of this soup require you to let the ingredients sit for a while before blending, allowing the sea salt to extract flavor from the tomatoes. Personally, I wanted to get right down to things so I skipped that step. Anyways, you’ll need to chill this for a while in the fridge afterwards so there will be plenty of time for the flavors to meld together.
You also have a couple other choices when it comes to the blending technique.
Do you want a soup that is perfectly pureed with absolutely no texture? If so, run the blended soup through a sieve. I would probably do this after chilling, to give the flavors more time to mix together and deepen.
Do you prefer a soup that’s a little bit chunky? If so, first blend half the ingredients, including all the almonds, until you have a purée. Then add in the rest and pulse your blender a few times till you have the texture you’re looking for.
If you’re not worried about texture and you just want a fast and easy soup, do what I did: throw everything into the blender and blend and purée. Then throw the soup into the fridge and allow it to cool for an hour or so. Boom. You’re done.
Summer Gazpacho
Makes 6-8 servings (of about 1 cup each)
Ingredients
1/2 cup almonds (raw, unsalted)
2- 2.5 lbs ripe tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1 small/medium cucumber
1 large clove of garlic (or 2-3 smaller ones)
1 large handful of basil
2 T Sherry vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 t salt
Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
If using the almonds, soak them overnight. Remove the skins (they’ll slide off with your fingers), and rinse and drain the nuts.
Prepare your veggies: core the tomatoes and pepper. For the pepper- remove the seeds. If you are not using a high speed blender, peel the cucumber and cut into chunks.
Prep your garnishes: set aside a bit of cucumber and tomato seeds. Cut the cucumber into small dice. If you want, also set aside a couple leaves of basil to chop and use as a garnish.
Place the almonds, tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, garlic, basil, sherry vinegar, olive oil, and salt into your blender and blend until puréed. Important: see my notes above on blending technique! You can choose whether to make this soup a complete purée or more textured.
Chill the soup for at least an hour. This is a dish best enjoyed cold. Also, giving the soup time to set will allow the flavors to mix and mingle.
To serve: garnish with the diced cucumber and tomato seeds, and a sprinkle of good flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
ENJOY!
Did you try this recipe? Leave a comment and let me know how it went!
