The Best Authentic Gazpacho Recipe
The Most Original Gazpacho
What an amazing time for me to make an extraordinary soup. Summer may be hot, but taking a cooling soup can be rewarding. Today, I have taken the decision to prepare my favorite gazpacho soup. Follow my lead as we venture into the recipe.
For many years now, I have loved the chilled and refreshing Spanish tomato soup. It came from Andalucia, an exotic region in Spain that is rich with natural herbs, foods, and ingredients. The soup is available in almost every place that sells food. Coffee shops, restaurants, bars, inns, and cafes have this delicacy.
In Barcelona, you will find more than five different gazpacho brands in bottles for you to buy and take away. The soup is very delicious and has an unmistakable flavor especially during the very hot summer weather.
While the soup is a national phenomenon in Spain, different parts of the country have various types with each having a unique twist. The one in Salmorejo in Cordoba is different from the one in Porra Antequerana in Antequera. Each can be mixed with an extra pinch of veggies and extra fruits.
Spanish Gazpacho Ingredients
There are innumerable ways to make gazpacho, and my recipe is among the best to arrive at a delicious soup. Ingredients for Spanish Gazpacho soups- garlic, onion, bell pepper, tomato, sherry, cucumber, olive oil.
Gazpacho is easily the most preferred kind of soup in summer because it blends so many ingredients into a perfect soup. The fact that all ingredients are natural and raw makes it a nutritious product.
There is no chance of warming up your stove. All you need is a chopping board on which you will cut and slice these ingredients. Next, you will add them into a blender or food processor and that’s pretty all the work you will do.
You will need the following
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- Tomatoes – Go for medium round or Roma tomatoes as they produce the best thickness of the soup. If you can’t find these, any ripe red tomatoes will suffice. While there is no need to peel them, ensure you get rid of all seeds and tough white core.
- Cucumber – Buy a small variety of cucumber from your local grocery store. Choose the ones around 6 inches in length, have them seeded and peeled.
- Green bell peppers – many Spanish recipes insist on green bell peppers, but I usually will go for any variety or color.
- Bread – Any bread will do the job, but the crusty white part of your leftover bread is best for preparing Gazpacho soup. It’s great for thickening the mixture while adding flavor. Ensure that you get rid of crusts. Let the bread sit in the soup for around 10 minutes. This will soften it before you run the food processor. Alternatively, run the bread in fresh water from your faucet and ring it to drain fluid.
- Red onion – I advise that you go for the very small red onion and have them peeled in advance of the preparation.
- Garlic – Use no more than 3 or 4 small cloves of garlic
- Olive oil – The traditional or classic Gazpacho soup contains lots of oils. While this may not be healthy for the heart, I prefer to use just ¼ cup in my recipe.
- Sherry vinegar – The area of Andalucia is famous for its wide availability of sherry, the standard component of our Gazpacho juice. If there is no sherry vinegar in your local stores, go for red wine vinegar as it has the same consistency.
- Ground cumin – When I was traveling in Andalucia a couple of years ago, our travel guide taught us a secret in adding cumin to increase the flavor of Gazpacho soup. This ingredient is very common in the southern part of Spain, thanks to its close proximity to Morocco. It adds delightful yet subtle notes to the recipe.
- Salt to taste and black pepper to delight the palate – These are essential ingredients
How to make Gazpacho Soup
Making your delightful soup at home is easy and stress-free.
Puree your soup – Add all of the above ingredients into the food processor or blender. Puree these for about a minute or longer until the gazpacho attains the consistency that you prefer. My personal taste is a super-smooth texture.
Chill – remove your soup from the blender and put it into a sealed container. Next, refrigerate the mixture for 4-5 hours until it is completely chilled.
Serve – I already told you that I love my Gazpacho soup very chilled in summer. Serve yours and add any favorite toppings.
Gazpacho soup toppings
With such an easy pureed soup, toppings are a must in my recipe! I like to throw in any combination of the following ingredients to my gazpacho soup:
Homemade croutons: This is easy to prepare with your leftover bread
Fresh-cracked black pepper: Pepper is always a must, in my recipes.
Fresh herbs: chives, basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, and are some of my all-time favorites.
Cream: Add a little drizzle of cream such as sour cream
Olive oil: An extra drizzle of olive oil on top of the soup is conventional and traditional in Spain.
Chopped hard-boiled eggs or Spanish ham – These toppings are traditional in the country, especially in Salmorejo, and largely in the area of the south of Spain.
Tomato, green pepper, onion, or cucumber – you can sprinkle a little of these leftover chopped gazpacho veggies on your soup.
How to serve your gazpacho
There is no rule cast in stone as far as serving your gazpacho soup is concerned. Feel free to experiment or go with the style that you know best.
Perhaps the commonest way is to serve gazpacho soup in a middle-sized bowl or mug. Add to the flavor with garnished toppings. Do you want to keep things super simple just like it is the norm in many places in Spain? Serve the gazpacho in glasses over ice with a straw.
Whatever you do, the most essential part about gazpacho is to serve it super chilled. You may be forgiven for serving in whatever style, but nobody will like gazpacho that is not chilled enough. Oh, and another thing, the serving sizes in Spain are traditionally pretty small. There is no need for serving in a large soup bowl. This is unless, of course, you, or your guests are really hungry.
How to customize gazpacho
While the recipe above is for genuine tomato gazpacho soup, there are so many ways that you could personalize your gazpacho. You could do the following.
Add veggies: corn, beets, and zucchini are some of my most favorite additions here.
Add some fruit: Watermelon, strawberries, and cantaloupe are the loved additions here in Spain.
Add some spice: This is usually not a common addition in Spain. Remember that the people here almost always avoid heat in their food. However, I love adding a few slices of serrano, jalapeño, and a pinch of cayenne to my soup.
Add extra herbs: Fresh herbs — such as basil, thyme, rosemary, and chives are also delicious in this recipe.
Enjoy, your perfect gazpacho soup.
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Ingredients
- 3 small garlic cloves peeled
- 1 English cucumber, peeled
- 3 large heirloom tomatoes, halved and cored*
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 medium red bell pepper, cored
- 1/2 small red onion, peeled
- 1/2 tsp freshly-cracked black pepper
- 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
- 3 chopped basil
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- Optional garnishes such as chopped fresh herbs, homemade croutons, and a drizzle of olive oil.
- Any leftover ingredients
- water
Instructions
- Combine all your ingredients together in a food processor or blender. Puree for 1 minute and stop when the soup reaches your most preferred consistency. Taste and season with pepper, extra salt, and a little cumin if needed.
- Refrigerate the mixture in a sealed container for 4-5 hours, so that it is completely chilled.
- Serve cold, and add your desired garnishes.
- To remove the core from your tomatoes, scoop out and discard the seeds plus any tough white core.