Gazpacho gets a bad name because there are so many bad versions where people use it as a means of getting rid of produce, but when done correctly it’s amazing (and easy). This is based on the Jose Andres version:
Fill the blender 3/4 full of cut up tomatoes (skin, seeds, and all)
Add 1-3 cloves of peeled garlic (your choice), half a peeled cucumber, and 1/2 to a whole seeded green bell pepper (depends on the size). Add a good glug of sherry vinegar. It absolutely has to be sherry vinegar.
Puree it. Add salt and pepper to taste. With the motor running add anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of olive oil and let it run for another 15-30 seconds. The oil makes it very creamy and rich, but you can also leave the oil out.
Strain and chill slightly (don’t over chill it or it mutes the flavors) You can garnish it with some diced tomato, cucumber, bell pepper and croutons if you want or just eat it plain.
We generally eat 1-2 blender fulls a day when tomatoes are in season. It’s also good for tomatoes that are getting overripe or are less than aesthetically pleasing.
Modifications!!
I used 2 Cloves and instead of bell pepper I added 1/2 Serrano!!
I used Gran Capirete " Vinagre de Jerz Reserve " sherry vinegar-- absolutely wonderful
Veleta–Estate Oil _- Nice job Nola
I finished mine – with diced cucumber, some sweet Port of Clyde Maine shrimp, lime zest and Malbar Pepper-- Baby Lovage and Alessi Garlic Grazzini ( sp )
Wonderful stuff…
What would we drink with this?
I thought about adding some stale bread… but I only had whole wheat.
I’m glad you liked it. It is from one of the Jose Andres Made in Spain episodes (available on Netflix), so all credit should go to him.
I’ve done hot peppers, but prefer bell pepper for it. I’m sure you could use red wine vinegar, but I like sherry vinegar. I’ve used Persian cucumbers, English ones and plain old ones and it’s good with any of them. Yes, you can drop the bell pepper if you want, but I think it adds a lot.
But it shows that if you don’t treat gazpacho as a garbage can for produce and keep it simple, it’s a world class dish.
Basically the same recipe as my Mother In Laws except hers also has a half an onion. I keep gazpacho in my frig all the summer. If there is something like pepper you can’t take, leave it out. Use over ripe tomatoes if you have them or if you can find them. I alway use a food mill to strain after blending, I think it is much better.
The version from French Laundry is (predictably) amazing. Keller macerates the veggies overnight in the tomato juice, then blends the following day. One can then push this through a sieve to create “the texture of luxury.”
I like a little balsamic glaze on top, and maybe some finely diced cucumbers for crunch. Like this:
Poblanos can get pretty spicy, anaheim green chiles may tone it down a bit and sub well for green bells.
Gazpacho is a kick to make. I find the challenge in building the palate, it needs balance, and a start, middle, and finish. Lots of ways to get there and I agree keeping the ingredient list down definitely helps.
I agree with the onion, i think it gives it a little bit of umph which I like. Similar to Nola, we basically have batch in the fridge pretty much all summer.
I have my method down which is to chop my veges in chunks, I peel the onion (of course) and the cuke if it is later in the season. Toss all the veges in a large bowl. Then in a measuring cup I add 1/2 cup of my EVOO, and 1/3 cup of my Sherry Vinegar 1 Tbsp of sea salt & 1 tsp of sugar and my minced garlic ( note if you can see the core of the garlic, it will be more likely to give you indigestion) cut the garlic clove in half and pop out the core & discard. Mince the rest as normal.
I fill the blender with the veges, and use a spoon to blend my EVOO & Sherry Vinegar together with the salt, sugar & garlic, pour some, not all because you’ll be doing several batches veges. Most important is the evoo has to get blended with the veges to get the color and creamy texture. And for true gazpacho the food mill is essential.
made the recipe essentially from the OP yesterday with the addition of some rustic bread with the crusts off… came out really good, and was a big hit… will have to try to do this regularly over the next few weekends while the tomatoes are still coming in at the farmers markets.
