The Soup of the Summer: Gazpacho

So. Many. Tomatoes. Chris's mom tipped me off to growing San Marzano's, a type of plum tomato originally grown in the volcanic ashy soil around Mount Vesuvius. They are celebrated for their meaty quality, which makes for heavenly marinara. And I've made my fair share of marinara with these, but a hot bowl of pasta doesn't do it for me in these last days of July. Gazpacho. Now, that's the ticket.

Gazpacho turns a few people off from the words, "chilled soup". I feel like labeling it "soup" is just silly. Sure you can serve it in a bowl, and eat it with a spoon, but you can also just guzzle it straight out of the blender like Pepa, in that Pedro Almodovar film. It also makes for classy appetizer in tasting spoons or other small bowls. Gazpacho has origins all over Europe, but the most common is that it was a peasant dish from Spain. Making up fresh Gazpacho in the fields with a wooden dornillo would be a way to cool down, hydrate and energize. And it's fantastically delicious too.

I adapted my version from this recipe from a Slate article, You're doing it Wrong: Gazpacho. They'll also tell you all the wrong ways to do Gazpacho. But the most important ingredient should, and always will be, fresh ripe plum tomatoes.

You'll need:

2 pounds tomatoes, roughly chopped (about 10ish plum tomatoes)
1 medium red bell pepper, roughly chopped
½ medium cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped (always an English cucumber)
½ red onion, roughly chopped
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
⅓ cup almonds
One ½-inch slice white bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 medium fresh jalapeño, seeded and roughly chopped (Or any pepper with some heat)
2 garlic cloves
Salt and black pepper
1 avocado, thinly sliced (for presentation)

Start with the tomatoes. You'll halve them and scoop out the gooey seed center. Plum tomatoes shine in this role, because they have much less seediness about them.

Many people will add water to thin out the final Gazpacho product, but why use water when you can use the fresh tomato juice? Set up a bowl and a strainer over top. As you scoop out the seeds put them into the strainer. When you've got all the tomato guts, use a spoon to smoosh the juice through the strainer. It won't add up to too much, but it will be enough to add to the final product for a thinner quality. That's the most laborious part.

 Add the tomatoes, olive oil, and vinegar into the blender. Give it a pulse or two to puree. Then add all the chopped and seeded veggies. Blend again, then add the almonds and the bread, which gives it it's thickness and texture.

Blend everything until it's nice and smooth. Garnish with some sliced avocado. Easy, so you don't need to slave away in the fields of Spain to enjoy it. Mmm.