Gazpacho!
Damn! It's hot! (the weather, not the soup)
Words, words, words. What are the words for this one? Everyone else goes on about how when it is hot you want a refreshing cold soup to cool you down. Bah! This is just good soup. The fact that it is vegan, never cooked, cold and delicious is beside the point.
I learned to make gazpacho because I usually order the specials at restaurants. Scene 1: Mon Ami Gabi, Paris Hotel, Las Vegas, Monday midmorning. Action! We arrived about 10am for our traditional kickoff brunch with the crew. As we were at the end of breakfast we could order off either menu. People were hemming and hawing. I wanted nothing to do with that. When our waiter (I think his last name was Malfoy) indicated the specials were oysters and the soup du jour was gazpacho I had my order. Excellent choices both. After the meal I couldn't get that taste out of my mind. Cool, slightly spicy, smooth but most of all tomatoey. (Is that a word?)
After watching 70 YouTube videos and reading dozens of articles, here is my recipe.
You'll need;
- About a pound of Cherry tomatoes
- 3 or so med Roma tomatoes
- 1/4 of a red onion
- one Anaheim pepper (charred + skin and seeds removed)
- 1/3 cucumber (peeled and deseeded)
- one clove of garlic
- 5 leaves of basil
- tsp salt (more to taste after blending)
- tsp pepper
- tsp cumin
- 2 shakes of cayenne
- 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
- 1/3 cup good olive oil
Roast your pepper until it is completely charred and then cover it in a bowl to let it cool and steam.
Cut the stems out of the Romas and roughly chop.
Peel and seed the cuke portion and roughly chop.;
Same for the onion and pepper when it is done steaming.
Stuff everything in the blender and blitz on med for at least a minute. If you have one of those super blenders that can heat soup stay on low. No heat here.
When it is smooth taste for seasoning. A little more salt and pepper goes a long way. If it is too watery you can add a bit more olive oil.
Now pass it through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Let it have time for the liquid to separate and drop through while you gently scrape the collected skins and seeds up exposing fresh mesh.
Now rinse your strainer and pass through again -- this time into a large measuring cup with a spout.
From here you can decant it into a pitcher and stick it in the fridge for at least and hour before serving.
I like to serve 2 to 3oz in a wine or martini glass as an aperitif. Garnish with a little chiffonade of basil, a crouton, some crumbled feta or a sliver of jalapeno. Oh, and did I mention that you can add a splash of vodka or silver tequila...
