Traditional Red Gazpacho
My mom makes the best gazpacho. It's actually based on a Moosewood cookbook recipe, but edited here and there to create "our" version. The recipe is requested for summer bbqs and loved by the family. It is easy, healthy and delicious. A piece of grilled bread, or my family likes to eat shrimp with it (esp. at the beach) it's filling yet light.
Enjoy my mom's "famous" gazpacho. It certainly is a favorite around our house :) We have developed a range of gazpachos that are variants of this one, and will be sharing those over the rest of the summer. Next up is a green gazpacho that has poblanos, cilantro and a little avocado for creaminess.
TRADITIONAL RED GAZPACHO
makes 6-8 servings
INGREDIENTS
- 8 cups v8 juice
- 1 small onion
- 8 plum tomatoes (de-seeded)
- 1 cup green pepper (1-2 peppers)
- 1 tsp. honey
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 small cucumbers
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 2 tbs red wine vinegar
- dash of cumin
- cup fresh chopped parsley
- 2 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 6 teaspoons chopped basil
- 6 teaspoons chopped tarragon
INSTRUCTIONS
Start by chopping the ingredients into manageable sized pieces. Chop the tomatoes in half, clean the tops off, and squeeze out the seeds. Combine all ingredients in blender and puree until the consistency desired. I like this one to be "partially" chunky, but not too choppy.
If you need to blend in batches, make sure you season to the entire batch, not just the batch you have in the blender. Also make sure to mix really well if you need to blend in batches.
The key is to make the entire batch and then adjust the honey and vinegar to taste. Depending on the day, we might double the honey and vinegar if the tomatoes aren't as ripe etc.
Can be easily cut in half for less soup.
Note: If you like your soup a little spicy, try the v8 spicy version!
