When the dog days of summer bring temperatures in the high 90s and turn the air thick and sultry, my enthusiasm for the kitchen diminishes: it’s too hot and sticky to cook a dinner, with or without an outside grill. What is needed now is an easy to prepare meal that cools us down, and a visit to the local farmers’ market ignites inspiration when I gaze at the mounds of ripe, juicy tomatoes and colorful peppers — it’s GAZPACHO time!
Gazpacho, the classic Spanish cold soup, provides perfect relief and may be served as a starter, main course, or tapas. Although there are countless versions throughout the world, the original recipe, food historians say was brought to Spain from Italy in Roman times, consists of, at least, six essential ingredients, bread, water, vinegar, garlic, olive oil and salt. Additional ingredients determine the type of gazpacho. Red gazpachos contain ripe tomatoes. White gazpachos include various fruits and nuts. Green gazpachos may be made with green tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs. Sherry vinegar often flavors the soup.
The texture of gazpachos varies widely from a thick, almost salsa-like chunky soup eaten with a spoon to a velvety drink. Each is delicious but my favorite gazpacho falls somewhere in between, a combination of both. The soup I love is a tomatoey smoothie as thick as heavy cream, garnished with a shaped mound of finely chopped cucumber, pepper, red onion and avocado and served with crispy thin toasts of French country bread.
I have tested several recipes, but Gordon Ramsey’s recipe, with modifications, makes my ideal gazpacho.
Gazpacho, adapted from Gordon Ramsey’s Ultimate Home Cooking
For the gazpacho
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped (1 inch (2.54 cm) diameter x 6 inches ( 15.25 cm) long)
1 red sweet pepper, small, cored, seeded and chopped
1 green pepper, small, cored, seeded and chopped|
½ red onion, small, chopped
2 ¼ pounds (1kg) ripe red and yellow plum tomatoes, cored, seeded and chopped*
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
4 ounces (75g) stale crusty white bread, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste
½ cup (118.3ml) olive oil, extra virgin, or more to taste and for drizzling
22–2½ tablespoons sherry vinegar, or to taste
For the garnish
1 cucumber, peeled and diced into ¼ inch cubes
½ red sweet pepper or red chili if you like some heat
½ yellow peppers , diced into ¼ inch cubes
½ green pepper, diced into ¼ inch cubes
½ red onion, small, diced into ¼ inch cubes
11 avocado, large ripe, diced into ¼ inch cubes
1½ teaspoon sherry vinegar
11 teaspoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
For the toasts (optional)
8 thin slices of country-style white bread
Olive oil, extra virgin, for brushing
Place cucumber, pepper, tomatoes, onion and garlic into a large bowl. Add bread and season well with salt and pepper. Add vinegar and mix with hands, pressing down to squeeze out juices. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.
A few hours before serving, blend vegetable mixture until smooth with stick bender or in batches in blender, adding oil until mixture has the consistency of heavy cream. Adjust salt, pepper, oil and vinegar to taste. Cover and chill again until ready to serve.
Combine garnish vegetables in a small bowl with olive oil a few hours before serving. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep chilled until ready to plate.
Meanwhile, make toast in a toaster or on a stove-top griddle pan. If using toaster, toast bread dry; then brush bread with oil after toasting. If using griddle pan, brush slices of bread generously with olive oil. Place griddle pan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the bread and toast on either side until golden and crunchy. Drain on kitchen paper, then season with a little salt and pepper.
To serve: Divide the garnish vegetables into 4 equal portions. Place a 2-3 inch ring mold* in a large flat soup bowl. Carefully spoon a portion of the garnish vegetable mixture into ring mold, firmly pressing to compact the vegetables. Remove ring and repeat with remaining bowls. If not using ring mold, then spoon garnish vegetables into mound in each bowl.
Stir gazpacho and taste again as thorough chilling may have changed seasoning. Adjust as necessary. Divide gazpacho in 4 equal portions. Then pour gazpacho carefully around the vegetable garnish, leaving the garnish visible in the center. Serve gazpacho ice cold with an extra drizzle of olive oil and toasts alongside, if using.
Serves 4 as main course
* Notes: When you core and seed tomatoes, you should do so into a fine sieve over a bowl to catch the core, seeds and juice of the tomatoes. Press the core and seeds with the back of a spoon to extract as much juice as possible. Add juice to the precut vegetables. Discard cores and seeds.
Ring molds can be purchased in various dimensions online or in cooking supply stores, but a suitable mold can be made by carefully removing the top and bottom of a 2-inch high metal can with a can opener. I use several homemade ring molds for molding vegetables, baking English muffins and tarts.
Photo credits: Slava Johnson
One year ago this month: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/glazed-lemon-blueberry-bread/