Authentic Gazpacho

• porzioni: 4 servings
• tempo di preparazione: 15 minutes
• tempo totale: 15 minutes

Ingredienti

2 pounds ripe Roma tomatoes (halved and cored*)

1 small (1/2 lb) cucumber (peeled and seeded*)

1 medium green bell pepper (cored)

1/2 small red onion (peeled)

2 small garlic cloves (or 1 large clove) (peeled)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 thick slice of white bread (soaked, crusts removed*)

optional garnishes: homemade croutons

Istruzioni

Purée. Combine all ingredients together in a blender or food processor. Puree for 1 minute, or until the soup reaches your desired consistency.

Season. Taste and season with extra salt, pepper and/or cumin if needed.

Chill. Refrigerate in a sealed container for 3 to 4 hours, or until completely chilled.

Serve. Serve cold, topped with your desired garnishes.

Note

Tomatoes: Roma tomatoes or “branch tomatoes” in Spain (medium, round, soft-skinned tomatoes on the vine) are standard for traditional gazpacho. But really, any ripe, juicy, fresh tomatoes will do. There is no need to peel your tomatoes for gazpacho, but I do recommend coring them (scoop out the white flesh and seeds).

Cucumber: 6-inch Persian or Kirby cucumbers are most often used in Spain, peeled and seeded. But I usually just toss in half of an English cucumber instead.

Green bell pepper: Some of my Spanish friends are firm believers that green bell peppers, specifically, are a must for authentic Spanish gazpacho. But any color of bell pepper will do.

Bread: Leftover white bread is the key to the texture of authentic gazpacho, to thicken it slightly and round out the flavors. Discard the crusts for optimal texture. Then to help the bread blend well, blend up the gazpacho, then poke the slice of bread into the center of the soup and let it sit there for 10 minutes to soften before blending it into the soup.

Red onion: Just half of a small red onion, peeled.

Garlic: I use two small garlic cloves, or one large clove.

Olive oil: Many traditional gazpacho recipes are loaded with lots of olive oil. But nowadays in Spain, they often cut down the amount of oil to make the soup a bit healthier. This recipe just uses 3 tablespoons.

Sherry vinegar: Andalucía is known for its sherry, so of course sherry vinegar (vinagre de Jerez) is always used to make gazpacho here in Spain. If you can’t find sherry vinegar at your grocery store, you can sub in some red wine vinegar.

Ground cumin: Our friends in Andalucía taught me the secret of adding cumin to your gazpacho, which is a popular ingredient in the south of Spain due to the region’s proximity to Morocco.

Sea salt and black pepper: Essentials!