Gazpacho (cold veggie soup)
🌱🍅😋 Tomato season is in full swing! Grandma Sita’s homegrown ripe tomatoes have a bright red color, juicy texture, and sweetness. All varieties are always welcome in her kitchen to make fresh gazpacho, a soup made of raw vegetables usually with a ripe tomato base, and even helps you run out of stale leftover bread. There is no summer without yummy gazpacho!
- INGREDIENTS
1kg ripe red tomatoes
1 small cucumber
1 medium bell pepper
1 garlic clove
1/2 small red onion
150g stale leftover bread
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- METHOD
1. Cut the stale bread into thick slices. Put into a bowl. Cover with water and wait for a while. Strain the soaked bread and put it all into a jug.
2. Wash the vegetables well. Chop the cucumber, onion, tomatoes, and bell pepper into cubes.
3. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Add ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil and generous tablespoons vinegar.
4. Puree until the soup reaches your desired consistency, a fine pulp texture.
5. Taste and season with salt and/or pepper.
6. Refrigerate in a sealed container until completely chilled (for 3 to 4 hours ish).
7. Serve cold as is and/or topped with any garnishes you like.
🧓🏻❤️ Grandma Sita’s tips:
*Optional garnishes: homemade croutons, chopped fresh herbs, a drizzle of olive oil, or any leftover chopped gazpacho ingredients.
*Leftover gazpacho can be transferred to a food storage container and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
📗 Gazpacho is a soup made of raw vegetables and served cold, usually with a tomato base, originating in the southern Spanish region of Andalucía, widely eaten in Spain, particularly during the summers.
If you ask ten Spaniers for the standard gazpacho recipe, you’ll receive a different answer from each of them. That is because there is no standard, each Spanish family adjusts the recipe and twitches it according to their taste buds: a little more of this spice, a little less of that.
♻️ Cold plant-based soups are the perfect way to cook with zero waste using seasonal ripe fruits and veggies. All of us can act at home to reduce our waste and every single one counts. This summer make soup, not waste!
Eating local and seasonal fruits and vegetables helps to reduce food waste, saves resources, improves food quality and healthy habits, and boosts the local economy.