Gazpacho, Andalusian Style

Ingredients:

  • One long green pepper (for ES: choose a mild, banana pepper; can be jalapeño)

  • 3/4 of medium onion, roughly diced (may be yellow or Vidalia onion)

  • 1 large clove garlic; peeled, smashed and cut

  • 1 T sherry cooking wine

  • 2 T red wine vinegar

  • 1 t salt

  • 1/8 t sugar

  • 2 drops hot sauce

  • 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

  • 4 slices hearty bread; chunked, may remove the crusts, or leave them on

Optional, yet recommended:

  • 3 small pickling cucumbers, peeled—or not—and cut into chunks

  • 1 Bell pepper, seeded and cut into small chunks (use yellow or red to preserve the rich red color of the soup)

  • 2 ½ to 4 pounds of deep red, summer-ripe tomatoes, cut in quarters, keeping the juice

  • 1/2 c extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

  • In a food processor or blender, in about three batches: add in ingredients in most any order, stopping to blend in between additions, especially when there are large things, like the tomatoes and bread. Blend in a tomato or two if you need the liquid for blending purposes. Consider leaving some tomato for the last thing you blend in and leave it a little chunky if you wish to add texture to the soup.

  • Because I like the olive oil blended with the vegetables, I add in a bit with each blender batch of vegetables, drizzling it in while the machine is running.

  • Chill for about one hour and serve cold.

Notes:

  • This will last in the refrigerator, covered, for a couple of days.

  • If you wish to decorate the top of the soup when plating, sprinkle on some pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds) and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

-Eileen Sarson

Ashley NesbittComment