Spanish Gazpacho Soup
There are more than thirty variations of gazpacho, only some of which are the familiar raw, cold, tomato-based mixture. This version is typical of Andalusia in the hot south. Originally, it was a peasant dish that made use of the three basic ingredients much revered in Spain - oil, water and bread (in Arabic, gazpacho means 'soaked bread'). Other ingredients were added according to what was available. If you chill it, put it in a container with a tight-fitting lid so the flavours don't mingle with anything else in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet Spanish onion finely chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons caster sugar
- 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 large red pepper peeled with a vegetable peeler and coarsely chopped
- 1 large green pepper peeled with a vegetable peeler and coarsely chopped
- 3 slices country-style bread with crusts, about 100 g
- 3 garlic cloves crushed
- 5 1/2 lb ripe tomatoes skinned
- 12 cm cucumber peeled and coarsely chopped
- 6 tablespoons virgin olive oil
- fine sea salt
- a splash of Tabasco optional
- ice optional
garnishes
- 6 cm cucumber unpeeled, finely chopped
- 1 cm bread croutons sauteed in olive oil infused with garlic
- 2 ripe tomatoes finely chopped
Instructions
- Put one-quarter of the chopped onion in a small bowl and add % teaspoon of the sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vinegar and 3 tablespoons cold water and set aside. Reserve one-quarter of the prepared red and green peppers and put in small bowls. These small bowls will be served as garnishes at the end.
- To make the other garnishes, put the unpeeled chopped cucumber, croutons and chopped tomatoes in separate small bowls and set aside.
- To make the gazpacho, put the bread, garlic and remaining sugar in a flat dish, sprinkle with the remaining vinegar and 250 ml cold water and let soak.
- Cut the skinned tomatoes in half and cut out the hard core. Put a sieve over a bowl and deseed the tomatoes into the sieve. Push the seeds with a ladle to extract all the juices. Put the juices in a blender and discard the seeds. Add the soaked bread mixture and half the tomatoes. Blend until smooth and pour into a bowl.
- Put the remaining tomatoes, the remaining onion and 100 ml iced water in the blender. Pulse 8 times to get a medium chunky effect, then pour into the bowl.
- Put the remaining chopped peppers, coarsely chopped cucumber, oil, salt and 150 ml iced water in the blender and pulse 8 times. Add to the bowl and stir in Tabasco, if using. Chill for up to 2 hours.
- If you like ice added, serve with crushed ice cubes. Put the bowls of garnishes on the table for guests to scatter over the gazpacho.
Calories: 404 kcal
Carbohydrates: 45 g
Protein: 9 g
Fat: 23g
Saturated Fat: 3 g
Trans Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 149 mg
Potassium: 1838 mg
Fiber: 11 g
Sugar: 24 g
Vitamin A: 6754 IU
Vitamin C: 159 mg
Calcium: 115 mg
Iron: 3 mg