The Best Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho
A delicious Gazpacho made from ripe heirloom tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, Spanish onion and a multitude of spices, sauces, and juices blended together to create a indescribable original fresh soup.
Equipment
- Vita-Mix, blender or food processor
- A fine strainer or strainer with cheese cloth
Ingredients
- 2 cloves cloves garlic - chopped
- 5 medium to large ripe heirloom tomatoes - vary the colors, red, green, yellow, white, purple, whichever ones look ripe and sweet.
- 5 ripe roma tomatoes
- 2 medium English cucumbers - rough cut one into a few pieces.
- 1 large Spanish or red onion
- 1 large green bell pepper - cored, seeded and deribbed
- 1 large red bell pepper - cored, seeded and deribbed
- 2 cups tomato juice - I prefer R.W. Knudsen Organic Tomato, much richer flavor than Mott's or Campbell's
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ½ cup vodka or vermouth - optional (but not for me :) )
- 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 dashes Tabasco sauce
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper - or to taste
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 2 inner ribs celery - very finely diced
Garlic Croutons
- 2 slices Italian loaf - ½ inch thick
- 2 cloves garlic - finely minced
- 2-4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil - enough to saturate all the bread
Instructions
- Rob's Little Secret - Have all your ingredients measured out before you begin.
- Core the 5 medium tomatoes and coarsely chop them.
- Whiz the garlic in a blender or food processor, add the tomatoes and puree until smooth. Strain the puree into a large non-reactive bowl. Use a spatual to work the puree through.
- Coarsely chop 1 of the cucumbers, ½ of the onion, and ½ of the green and red bell peppers. Add the chopped vegetables to the processor (if using a blender, add ½ cup of the tomato or vegetable juice as well). Process until liquified; strain into the large bowl, pressing down with the back of a spoon to extract all liquid.
- Add to the bowl the remaining juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, vodka or vermouth if using, lime juice, Worcestershire, Tabasco, cayenne pepper, celery salt and pepper. Stir well. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
- Finely dice the Roma tomatoes, remaining onion, peppers and cucumber. Add the finely diced celery. Reserve, refrigerated in small mixing bowl.
- To serve, ladle soup into chilled individual bowls. Sprinkle with the chopped vegetables and croutons, if using.
Garlic Croutons
- Preheat the oven to 350°
- Take the ½ inch slices of an Italian loaf and cut them into ½ inch cubes.
- Toss them in a bowl with the garlic and olive oil and spread them out on a foil cover baking sheet.
- Turn the oven off and bake in the cooling oven for about 15 minutes watching that they don't get too brown. Open the door to the oven and let it cool down. Then leave the croutons in, so they dry further with out cooking.