Gazpacho-Inspired Soup and Salsa

Gazpacho, a cold soup, is alleged to have originated in the southern regions of the Iberian peninsula. It started as a dish made of stale bread, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and salt, but evolved in the 19th century when tomatoes were added. Since then, it has evolved into many regional or epicurean versions. This is my fruit and vegetable-based twist on the theme.

I could eat this recipe every single day during the summer when the ingredients are at their best and I sometimes do. It's a dish that relies on fresh, ripe ingredients to do the heavy lifting with just a little help from some fruity olive oil, some zippy vinegar and a few spices. Fast, easy and good. What else could you want from a summer soup to slurp from a spoon or sip from a glass with some ice cubes?

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions for a Smoother Textured Soup
• Instructions for a Chunky Salsa-Style Soup
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Related
• Consider This

Ingredients

As with so many of the dishes I love most, there are only a few ingredients, brought together with condiments and a few quick processing steps that transform into something truly special.

Gazpacho-Inspired Vegetable Ingredients

• Tomatoes: You can use different varieties of tomatoes, but since they are such a big star of the dish, try to find those that are fresh, ripe and as flavorful as possible. Though you can find tomatoes in a supermarket in the dead of winter, I don't recommend making this dish with them. Instead of being bred for flavor, supermarket tomatoes are bred to look good, repel insects, and travel well. Don't be fooled. Grow your own tomatoes or buy them from your local farmer's market in the summer when they're at their best.
• Bell pepper: I love the sweet bell peppers, especially the yellow, orange and red ones. I like the green ones, but use the ones you like best. Our palates are all different.
• Cucumbers: I love Persian cucumbers for this soup, but Armenian ones are great also. You want the ones that are smaller and more concentrated in flavor.
• Red onion: Red onions are sweeter and work better for this set of flavors. Look for onions that are bright with no sprouts or soft spots.
• Garlic: Pick heads of garlic that are free of mold and sprouts. A garlic clove doesn't smell like garlic when it's fresh - until it is peeled.

Gazpacho-Inspired Flavoring Ingredients

• Olive oil: Use the best cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil you can find. In simple recipes like this one, you can taste every ingredient. A good olive oil, like this one from Bragg, is a balance of fruity, bitter and pungent flavors and offers a smooth mouth feel with a thin viscosity. If an oil feels thick or greasy on your tongue, it is often an indication of rancidity.
• Sherry vinegar: A decent aged sherry vinegar like this one will deepen the flavor of whatever it touches, while adding both enough acidity and sweetness for balance.
• Cumin: Buy freshly ground cumin. I buy most of my spices from The Spice House because every product is high quality and fresh. They also have an exhaustive inventory and offer informational resources about their products. I've learned so much about the spices I buy and so can you.
• Salt and Black pepper: These are essential spices to have on hand. For this recipe, I'd use a good finishing salt like Maldon sea salt flakes and then grind your peppercorns with a good peppermill.

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions for a Smoother Textured Soup

I've tried making this a few different ways to try to maximize efficiency, but I've found that the result is momentously better if you take a few breaths, commit to being patient, and follow the steps here. Sometimes quick and fast isn't better.

This set of instructions uses the blender to produce a soup that is a smoother texture.

Instructions for a Chunky Salsa-Style Soup

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Variations

This is not a recipe for an authentic Andalucian gazpacho, so the sky's the limit with regard to variations.

• Make it spicy: Add jalapenos, fresno chiles, or even red pepper flakes to add a little hot zip to the dish.
• Add fruit: Watermelon is a popular addition to add a little sweetness. You could also experiment with adding pineapple or strawberries.
• Make it even chunkier: After you make the dish, stir in chopped raw veggies like zucchini, crookneck squash, extra sweet peppers, cucumbers and green onions.
• Add a creamy element: Garnish or stir in cubes of avocado to add a creamy counterpoint to the acidic nature of the dish.

Equipment

You will definitely need some specific appliances to make this dish. Here are the ones I used:

Small Kitchen Appliances

• Blender: I have used a Vitamix A3500 series blender for years and it has been a consistently great performer on every dish over those years. Before I had it though, I used a Nutribullet personal blender. It was fine, and to be honest, at the time, I couldn't really understand why I needed another type of blender. But, it only lasted a little over a year. I thought of replacing it, but decided to buy a heavier duty option and have never looked back. There really is a difference.
• Food processor: For processing the soup into the chunky version, I used this Breville food processor, I've had it for a while and wouldn't change it. There are a lot of other brands, though, like Cusinart and even Vitamix has entered the category with a blender that has a food processor attachment.

Cookware

• All Clad sauce pan: To remove the skins of the tomatoes, I dunked the tomatoes into boiling water for 30 seconds or so until the skins start to loosen. I used this sauce pan to boil the water. When purchasing pots and pans that you'll use daily or weekly for a long time, I think investing in good quality is a top priority. That is why I buy All Clad.

Knives and Cutting Board

• Serrated knife: I like this Tojiro knife because it's lightweight, balanced in the hand, and cuts gracefully through a tomato and a loaf of crusty ciabiatta.
• Cutting board: If you're going to buy a plastic cutting board, buy one that's relatively large and has a juice groove so when you're cutting tomatoes and other juicy fruits, the juice stays on the board instead of running onto the counter, the floor and you. This one from Farberware is a good one.

Glass Kitchenware

• Glass bowls: I buy sets of glass bowls so I have a size for everything. For this recipe, I place the tomatoes in one bowl after they're blanched in the boiling water, then discard all the seeds and cores into a smaller bowl. And, sometimes I'll even use the bowls to serve the final dish. They serve a million tasks in the kitchen. I like this set.

Storage

I've made this recipe hundreds of times and am always surprised that when I store it in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator, it lasts a full week. I'm always happy to see it there and know I can count on it tasting perfect (or even better) after a few days.

Related

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