Gazpacho

Summary

Yield	6
Prep Time	1 hours
Country	Spain
Main Ingredient	Vegetable
Meal	Soups + Stews
Season	Spring

Description

Women on the Verge of A Nervous Breakdown is still my fave Almodovar movie, and as in the film, we always try to keep a pitcher of gazpacho in our fridge (minus the valium) in the warm weather months as a snack and as an easy thing to build a meal around. Keep large batches of this easy and addictive soup on hand throughout the rest of the summer, and if you haven’t seen the film you should rent it, if only for the gazpacho pitcher that steals the film.

Ingredients

6 c tomato juice
2 t dried oregano
6 fresh basil leaves
0.25 c extra virgin olive oil
2 clv fresh gralic, chopped
2 t Crystal brand hot sauce
1 T fresh lemon juice
3 T red wine vinegar
2 T Worchestershire sauce
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded
2 c cucumbers, shoped, peeled, and seeded
2 c green peppers, chopped
1 red onion, chopped

Instructions

Place tomato juice in a large work bowl and add oregano, basil, and olive oil. Season with some sea salt and freshly ground white pepper. Set aside.

Place remaining ingredients in work bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine in batches, adding tomato juice mixture in equal proportions as you purée. Do not over-mix. You are looking for an evenly textured purée with some grit to it. The crunch and the pretty visuals will come later from your diced vegetable garnishes.

Chill, taste, and adjust the salt and acid (lemon-vinegar) flavors and serve, garnishing as indicated below.

Garnish
Try any or all of these great “soup accessories” with your next batch of Gazpacho.

• Bread cubes, brushed with bruised garlic and pan-fried crisp in olive oil
• Minced pepper, cucumber, tomato, and onion mixed in equal parts
• Minced parsley
• Olive oil drizzles