September 23, 2011

Gazpacho for an end of summer treat

If you have given away all the vegetables you can, tossed the imperfect ones in the compost and still have more than you can deal with, try this: Make a gazpacho soup doubling the recipe below and invite friends over for an end of summer evening delight!

6 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 serrano pepper, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 lemon cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 cups tomato juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons medium-acid balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsely
4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
sea salt and black pepper in a mill to taste
1/2 cup best-quality extra-virgin olive oil

Combine all of the vegetables in a large bowl. Add the juice, lemon juice and vinegar and stir very briefly. Stir in the fresh herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste. Chill the soup for at least one hour before serving. Remove from the refrigerator, stir, let rest for 15 minutes and then pour the olive oil over the soup and serve with some homemade bread. Fabulous!

At gazpacho