EASY CHILLED GAZPACHO RECIPE
Gazpacho is a chilled and refreshing tomato soup that originated in Andalucia, Spain. It consists of entirely raw ingredients, and requires no heat up or cooking. You simply chop the ingredients and run them through a blender or food processor.
The best part about it, aside from the fairly quick and easy prep time and process, is the fact that you can easily modify the recipe and use up many leftover vegetables from your fridge, still resulting in a great taste.
INGREDIENTS:
- Approx. 2 lbs ripe tomatoes (diced)
- 1 large cucumber (peeled, deseeded, and chopped)
- 1 large onion (peeled and chopped)
- About half of 1 celery’s stalks (chopped)
- 1 red bell pepper (chopped)
- 2 cloves of garlic (minced or very finely chopped)
- Optional: 1 leak (chopped)
- 2 scallions (chopped) for garnish
- 1/3 cup of good oil (such as EVOO)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- A few drops of tabasco sauce. Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases (at no additional cost to you).
- 2/3 of V8 Original Vegetable Juice 46 oz bottle
- A few drops of lemon juice (fresh or from concentrate)
DIRECTIONS:
- Prepare the vegetables by washing them very well. They must be as clean as possible, as no cooking is involved in the preparation of gazpacho, so you want to take the time to clean them as well as possible. I like to let them soak in cold water for a while, rinsing and changing the water repeatedly until I feel they are as clean as possible.
- Once clean, chop or dice them as indicated in the ingredients list above.
- Run all vegetables (except 2 scallions, which are for garnish) through a blender or a food processor until they are very smooth. Pour the blended vegetables in a soup pot.
- Add oil, black pepper, lemon juice, tabasco sauce, and V8 vegetable juice into the pot with the vegetables.
- Stir well with a wooden spoon until all ingredients have blended well.
- Cover and refrigerate until chilled.
- Serve garnished with chopped scallions.
The soup tastes best the next day, after sitting in a refrigerator overnight, allowing the ingredients to blend well and the flavor to fully come out.
It tastes great served with croutons or warmed up pumpernickel bread.
We love this healthy soup and have made it for many years now due to its ease of preparation, and the great and refreshing taste that gives a nice energy boost.