Gazpacho is one of the most international dishes of Spanish gastronomy. Refreshing, low in calories and very easy to make. It is one of the star dishes of the summer, which, accompanied by a bit of crusty bread and a delicious dessert, will provide a solution to many of our meals this coming summer.
Making gazpacho, in principle, is quite a simple task, but like everything else, it has its tricks and you will eventually tweak it to your liking the more your make it.
The most popular version of the recipe for this cold soup is tomato, pepper, onion, garlic, cucumber, bread, and oil. Despite the fact that many think that gazpacho is originally from Andalusia, it has been proven that previous recipes already existed. However, there is no doubt that this one is the most famous version of them all. Most versions of this recipe will vary depending on the amounts of vegetables you used, which is why there are so many different flavours, everyone has different tastes - some prefer more garlic, some less, some more cucumber, some less, in the end, it's really up to you! But as a starting point this is what you need:
Ingredients
800 grams of ripe tomato
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 green pepper
1 red bell pepper
Spanish half cucumber
150 grams of stale bread
1 teaspoon of sweet paprika
1 tablespoon cumin
Salt
50-100ml Extra virgin olive oil
30ml sherry vinegar
Water
Steps to take:
Wash all the vegetables well, cut them into medium-sized pieces and put it all in a bowl. Add half of the oil, the vinegar, the salt, the paprika, the cumin and a little water, not much, and leave it to marinate in the refrigerator.
After a few hours of marinating, take the vegetables out of the fridge, blend them with a mixer and pass the mixture through a sieve. Then, use the blender again and while blending, add the rest of the oil little by little. The more oil, the richer it wll be so this will be a matter of taste. If the consistency is too thick for your liking you can add a little more water until you get the consistency you prefer ... that's it! All you have to do now is to season with salt and add a little extra vinegar if you prefer more of a kick. You can decorate the gazpacho with some chopped cucumber, peppers and toasted croutons.
As you can see, making gazpacho is really very simple. Adapt the recipe as you see fit and start experimenting! One piece of advice - try and find the best quality ingredients possible - especially the tomatoes, and you can't go wrong. Shorty I will publish a few variations of gazpacho so you never get bored!