Anybody make Gazpacho?

[cinehead]

I love Gazpacho, but never tried making in myself before. I found some recipes online, but thought I'd see if anyone here has a recipe that love.

What's your favorite Gazpacho recipe?

[Pencil]

It's the one I got from my former Spanish MIL.

I like my gazpacho chunky and with a bit of heat. I also add water to make it more soop-ey and less stew-ey. Do that after your own taste.

Serves four as an appetizer in the shade on a really hot day.

1 large onion
4 big tomatoes
1 large cucumber
2 cloves of garlic
1 large red pepper (paprika)
4 oz. Olive oil (not virgin, the lighter stuff)
4 oz. vinegar (red wine)
Salt, pepper, hot pepper of choice.


Now, I assume you can't find those divine onions that have such a mild taste, they can be eaten as apples. I've only ever found those in markets around the Med. So if you have regular onions, this is what you do.

Peel and slice the onion. Let it soak over night in slightly salted water.
Roast the red pepper till its peel is black. Can be done in toaster oven, on the BBQ or however you like. Wait till it's cooled and then rinse it. Chop it up some and let it soak over night in the olive oil. While you're there at the stove, you might as well boil the tomatoes and peel them. Put them somewhere for the next day.

Peel the cucumber and chop it up. Crush the garlic (DON'T press or use powder). Drain the onion thoroughly. Throw everything in the blender and pulse till it's the right amount of chunky for you. I forgot to tell you to put bowls in the freezer or fridge, din't I? Well, you should've done that.

Put some ice cubes in the bowls, pour the gazpacho and maybe add a twig of something to make it look nice. I detest cilantro, but people who like it claim that it really adds to the soup. I usually use some basil.

[HongKongFooey]

I follow pretty much the same recipe as above. I'm picky about the tomatoes I use. Only plum tomatoes. I also use tomato juice to round out the flavour.

I used to add roasted peppers packed in safflower oil but I can't find them anymore.

[Veb]

Yep, mine is pretty similar too. I like it a bit chunky because otherwise it's pretty much like spooning up V8. It's tough to find good sweet onions around here so ditto on the soaking process. That's really the only thing that needs to be done ahead of time.

I rarely make it exactly the same way twice because it depends on what produce looks good and what I'm in the mood for. I do like cilantro so that usually goes in, as well as a spritz of lime juice. (It's easy to overdo that though because tomatoes are acidic anyway.) If I don't feel like roasting a red pepper the jarred kind work fine. A dash or two of smoked paprika is nice too, just to add a little kick. Sometimes I throw in some very finely diced celery and/or summer squash just for a little extra crunch and pizazz.

[cinehead]

Great stuff, everyone. I can't wait to get started, thanks!

[blank]

Tomatoes, 2 day old bread, garlic and olive olive- liquidise. Serve in a tall glass garnished with cucumber and a slice of lemon.

[Amblydoper]

Yes, a proper gazpacho needs bread! old crusty italian bread, like what you would make croutons with. Or, you could just use croutons.