Most people crave a bowl of warm soup in the winter months, but gazpacho is a nice way to switch up this cold-weather staple. Gazpacho is a tomato-based vegetable soup that is traditionally served chilled.
While the “chilled” aspect might turn you off, especially with the frigid temperatures here in the Northeast, this heart healthy recipe will do your taste buds and your body good!
Grill the vegetables for this refreshing soup earlier in the day or even the night before.
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes
- 1 small red bell pepper
- 1 English cucumber, peeled and seeded, divided
- ½ cup torn fresh or day-old country
- bread (crusts removed)
- 1 small clove garlic
- 2-3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ teaspoon piment d’Espelette or hot Spanish paprika or pinch of cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Cooking instructions:
- Preheat grill to medium-high.
- Grill tomatoes and bell pepper, turning a few times, until they soften and the skins are blistered and charred in spots, about 8 minutes.
- Transfer the pepper to a plastic bag and let it steam until cool enough to handle.
- Peel off the skin; cut the pepper in half and discard the stem and seeds. Place one half in a blender.
- When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, core and roughly chop.
- Add the tomatoes, skins and all, to the blender.
- Add half the cucumber to the blender along with bread, garlic, vinegar to taste, parsley, piment d’Espelette (or paprika or cayenne), salt and pepper.
- Blend until smooth. Add oil and blend until well combined.
- Refrigerate until room temperature or chilled, at least 1 hour.
- Before serving, finely dice the remaining cucumber and bell pepper; stir half of each into the gazpacho and garnish with the remaining cucumber and bell pepper.
Enjoy!
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