We're heading toward summer and that means it is time for cold refreshing food. I made my first gazpacho of the season yesterday.
Gazpacho is a Spanish cold soup based on tomatoes and cucumbers. I first had it at an old Velvet Turtle Restaurant that offered a choice of cold soups with dinner: either gazpacho or cucumber.
Both were served in little metal bowls sitting in a bowl of ice.
I actually found the old Velvet Turtle recipe and have made it in the past.
Gazpacho is one of those things with limited ingredients but unlimited ways to assemble it. You can tailor the smoothness and texture to your liking. If you like smooth soups, you can puree the whole batch.
You can also puree some of it and keep it chunky. In Seville Spain, where the soup comes from, they make it smooth with a lot of olive oil which gives it an orange look.
It can be eaten like a soup, or drunk from a glass. It is all up to you.
I have always modeled my gazpacho from the first bowel I ate at the Velvet Turtle. I don't really have a regular recipe I use. I pull a new one each time and vary the texture to my liking.
This time I decided to try Alton Brown's recipe. His recipe turned out too chunky for my tastes. I increased the amount pureed from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups.
I also ended up increasing the amount of tomato juice from a cup (most from seeding the tomatoes) to 3 cups. I did this after eating the first bowl.
Here are some pictures of assembling the soup.
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