It’s nearing the end of the summer and my tomato plants are almost “give out”. They’ve still got some fruit, but mostly they are a bunch of lanky, dried up vines that are almost ready to be pulled up. Not only that, I’ve had my share of tomatoes this year and have been very creative to make the most of them! I’ve made and put up homemade spaghetti sauce, salsa, and tomato jam. I’ve enjoyed the heck out of my tomato plants this year! Still, I have to use the rest of my delicious tomatoes. This week, made a fantastic gazpacho. Fortunately, I had a huge Mr. Stripey tomato along with a handful of Better Boys which made for a complexly flavored soup. If you’re not familiar with gazpacho, it’s basically a chilled tomato soup. But if you’re having visions (nightmares?) of that canned stuff, be assured that is not at all what this is. Give it a try. I think you’ll like it.
Click here to watch the video of prepping this super summer soup: Summer Gazpacho Video.
Summer Gazpacho
- 4 lbs fresh tomatoes
- 1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 1/4 sweet onion (such as Vidalia), chopped
- 1/2-1 jalapeno pepper (optional), finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- Tomato juice
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 Tbs red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 2 Tbs fresh herbs (I used dill), finely chopped
Score the bottom of the tomatoes and plunge them into boiling water for 30 seconds. Allow to cool enough to handle and slip off skins. Cut tomatoes in half and squeeze out seeds into a sieve over a measuring cup. Chop tomatoes and place in a large bowl. Press seeds to get as much tomato juice as possible – you should have about 1/2 cup. Add all ingredients, except fresh herbs, to the bowl and mix well. Puree, either using an immersion blender, or in batches with a traditional blender, leaving about 1 cup of chopped vegetables with the rest of the pureed soup. Finally, stir in the fresh herbs. Allow to chill for 2 hours or more before serving.
