Author Notes: summertime, when the living is easy…
don’t you love the tail end of summer? when fruit is at its sweetest and plump, ripe tomatoes are just begging to be made into something. ANYTHING.
like this super simple gazpacho… —fo
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
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3 pounds tomatoes
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1 large red bell pepper
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1 cherry bomb pepper (optional)
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1/2 large jalapeno
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1 fatty cucumber, or about 4 Persians, peeled
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4 cloves garlic
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12 large leaves of basil
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1/2 cup olive oil
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3 TB sherry vinegar
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1 tsp pimenton (smoky spanish paprika)
Directions
- core your toms – just remove that little brown core in its center.
- mortar the garlic cloves until you arrive at a very smooth paste
- roast your peppers on the stove top until they are completely black
- get them into a paper bag to steam. it helps the peels to release
- peel the peppers and discard the seeds.
- i add the seeds of my jalapeno to the gazpacho because i want a little kick. but if you don’t want yours to be that spicy, go ahead and scrape them out now.
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working in two batches, because no one’s blender is that big, get half of everything into the blender. that means:
1.5 pounds tomatoes
1/2 of a peeled cucumber
1/2 of both the roasted peppers
1/4 of a jalapeno
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/2 of the mortared garlic
1 TB + 1.5 tsp. sherry vinegar
1/2 tsp pimenton
salt to taste. - blend until it emulsifies. taste. adjust seasoning with salt. don’t be alarmed, it will take quite a bit of salt. you will see. the right amount of salt will make this gazpacho sing.
- now add 6 of the basil leaves to the blender. blend for a few seconds. transfer to a clean jar fitted with a lid.
- repeat with the remaining ingredients, then refrigerate for at least an hour and a half before serving. this soup should be thoroughly chilled. oh, if it separates, no worries, just give it a good hard shake and it will re-emulsify.
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