Ingredients
- 2 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes, cored
- one medium red bell pepper
- one medium green bell pepper
- 1/2 medium English cucumber, peeled
- one small to medium red onion, peeled
- one jalapeno, seeded
- two garlic cloves
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (you’ll need about 1/4 cup
more to brush on the bread for the croutons) - 3 tbsp red-wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- one 1/2-inch slice white bread (to add to the blender)
- eight thin slices of crusty fresh-baked bread (like
a baguette) for the croutons - 1/2 avocado, peeled & cut into thin slices
- sea salt & fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
There are a lot of paths you can take with gazpacho. And as long as you use good, fresh—preferably local—produce, it’s hard to steer this dish wrong.
Some people like it all liquid; I like mine to have some crunch, so I cut the red and green peppers, cucumber, and jalapeño in half, then roughly chop half of each for the blender, and dice the other half of each to add later.
Put the roughly chopped pieces of tomato, red and green pepper, cucumber, and jalapeño into a blender, along with 2 chopped cloves of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, red-wine vinegar, lemon juice, and a piece of white bread torn into one-inch pieces.
Season with salt & pepper and then blend for at least 2 minutes on high, until smooth. Don’t be afraid to liquefy it—the vegetable pieces you’ll toss in later will give it some definition.
I’ve never had gazpacho turn out too thick, but if it’s too thick for your taste, drizzle in a little more extra virgin olive oil, or a little water, or even a little tomato juice (ugh) until it has the desired consistency.
Put the mixture in a refrigerator for a few hours, to give the flavors a chance to blend.
In the meantime, you can make some simple croutons by slicing some freshly-baked bread (I used a baguette) into 8 thin (about 1/2” thick) pieces, brushing them with olive oil, and heating them in a pan or stove-top griddle on medium until they’re golden brown.
When the bread is done, season it with salt & pepper and leave it out until becomes firm. Then cut the pieces into crouton-size pieces.
Check the chilled mixture for taste. Add more salt & pepper, if necessary. Add a little ice water if it’s too thick. Stir in the diced vegetables and again refrigerate the mixture—preferably overnight.
Serve as cold as possible. Garnish with some avocado slices and the homemade croutons. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on top, too, if you feel like it.
Recipe courtesy Chef Jean-Luc Bataille