Gazpacho, Andalusian Style
Ingredients:
One long green pepper (for ES: choose a mild, banana pepper; can be jalapeño)
3/4 of medium onion, roughly diced (may be yellow or Vidalia onion)
1 large clove garlic; peeled, smashed and cut
1 T sherry cooking wine
2 T red wine vinegar
1 t salt
1/8 t sugar
2 drops hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 slices hearty bread; chunked, may remove the crusts, or leave them on
Optional, yet recommended:
3 small pickling cucumbers, peeled—or not—and cut into chunks
1 Bell pepper, seeded and cut into small chunks (use yellow or red to preserve the rich red color of the soup)
2 ½ to 4 pounds of deep red, summer-ripe tomatoes, cut in quarters, keeping the juice
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
Instructions:
In a food processor or blender, in about three batches: add in ingredients in most any order, stopping to blend in between additions, especially when there are large things, like the tomatoes and bread. Blend in a tomato or two if you need the liquid for blending purposes. Consider leaving some tomato for the last thing you blend in and leave it a little chunky if you wish to add texture to the soup.
Because I like the olive oil blended with the vegetables, I add in a bit with each blender batch of vegetables, drizzling it in while the machine is running.
Chill for about one hour and serve cold.
Notes:
This will last in the refrigerator, covered, for a couple of days.
If you wish to decorate the top of the soup when plating, sprinkle on some pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds) and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.
-Eileen Sarson