Where have all of the gazpacho recipes gone?! Summer is in full swing and there’s really nothing more unique than a chilled soup on a hot day. This Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho recipe is a fresh take on a delicious Spanish classic, and is traditionally served chilled on hot summer days. It’s the perfect summer meal, especially when topped with sweet heirloom tomatoes and crunchy cucumber! If you’re wanting something different for dinner and don’t want to bother with a hot stove, then this tantalizing chilled soup is the perfect choice.
Arizona summers get intensely hot. It feels like opening an oven door every time you walk outside, and living in a dense, downtown neighborhood only compounds the heat. The last thing I feel like doing during the summer months is turning on the stove or oven to cook something!
Enter gazpacho. If you had asked me a few years back, I would’ve scoffed at a cold soup. Cold soup?! Sounded… unusual at first. But in time I started to appreciate the wisdom behind such a simple yet ingenious idea. It is the delicious answer to the hot summer nights, where our appetites are oppressed by the heat.
Gazpacho – A Soup Older Than A Millenia
Gazpacho originated from Spain, specifically Andalusia, where the summers are fiercely hot. The concept of chilled soup dates back to Antiquity, when the Romans pounded together wheat, olive oil and vinegar to make a rudimentary version of what we know today as gazpacho.
Over time, Moorish influence brought tomatoes, peppers, and other ingredients to the soup and introduced the technique of using a mortar and pestle to grind the soup into a smoother consistency.
As agricultural communities grew larger and wealthier, more ingredients were added to the soup like cucumbers, garlic, and herbs, but it was still considered a humble peasant dish.
At the turn of the 20th century, gazpacho enjoyed a renewed spotlight as it was served in wealthy Spanish summerhouses all over the world to entertain guests, and it became well known as an iconic symbol of vibrant Spanish cuisine.
Heirloom Tomatoes
I got my heirloom tomatoes from the farmer’s market! For the recipes I did a mixture of red and yellow tomatoes and they are so sweet and bursting with flavor. The best part about this Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho recipe is that you can use tomatoes that are on their last leg, since everything gets blitzed up at the end!
Look for plump, heavy tomatoes without too much outer scarring. If you can’t find heirlooms, try using vine ripened tomatoes if you can. These will have a sweeter flavor than roma tomatoes or beefsteaks.
I would recommend not using cherry tomatoes unless roasting them first, since the flavor can overpower the rest of the vegetables in the soup.
If you love tomato soup but are wanting something more warming, check out my Creamy Tomato Soup With Miso!
Using Bread In Gazpacho
A surprising ingredient, crumbled white bread is added to the gazpacho to help emulsify and thicken the soup. Using bread in soup is an ancient cooking technique and it is genius!
You see this method in other no cook soups like the Tuscan pappa al pomodoro. It gives the soup a creamy flavor without the use of dairy, making this soup dairy free and especially pantry friendly.
You can sub gluten free bread in this recipe, but just make sure it is white bread. Whole wheat bread has a nuttier flavor which can overpower the fresh mild flavors of the vegetables.
In a pinch you can even use cooked white rice to achieve the same creaminess, just ensure you are straining the soup well to remove any large pieces.
Optional Toppings For Gazpacho
The traditional toppings are diced tomato, cucumber, and cilantro leaves, but there are a whole host of toppings you can add for extra flavor, texture and visual appeal!
- Crumbled feta cheese
- Diced red peppers
- Grilled shrimp or shrimp skewers
- Drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
- Torn basil leaves
- Croutons
- Sliced green onions
- Toasted flour tortillas
Tips For Making The Best Gazpacho
Since there is no cooking involved with making gazpacho, ensuring that the ingredients are fresh and the techniques used are all adding flavor and texture to the dish is important. Here are some of my fool-proof tips for making the most velvety, silky gaspacho:
Tip 1: Double blend and double sieve. The first blend creates the “soup”, the second blend emulsifies the soup and gives us that creamy, dreamy texture we are looking for. Strain twice as well to achieve ultimate silkiness!
Tip 2: Marinate the vegetables for as long as possible. 4 hours at the minimum, and overnight if possible. The longer it sits, the more flavor there will be. Letting the soup chill after it is blended as well helps to prevent separation and further develop the flavors.
Tip 3: Don’t skip the starch. This recipe calls for bread, but you can use gluten free bread or even cooked rice if you have it on hand. The starch helps to thicken the soup and help keep it smooth. Without starch, the soup is more like a watery salsa. No thanks!
Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho
Ingredients
- 5 large heirloom tomatoes
- ½ red bell pepper
- ¼ cucumber
- ¼ Spanish onion, peeled
- ¼ red onion, peeled
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 5 small basil leaves
- 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1 piece of white bread, crusts removed
- ½ cup olive oil
- ⅔ cup tomato juice
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- large pinch of salt
- ¼ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Toppings (Optional)
- Diced heirloom tomatoes
- diced cucumber
- chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Roughly chop the heirloom tomatoes, onions, cucumber, red bell pepper, garlic, basil and cilantro and add to a large non-metallic bowl.
- (Optional step, you can grill your tomatoes first on a nonstick griddle for a few minutes to further sweeten them and to get some nice charred edges- this adds a smokier flavor).
- Crumble the white bread over the tomato mixture.
- Add in half of the olive oil, tomato juice, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, cumin, salt and red pepper. Stir to combine.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, to let the flavors develop.
- Ladle the tomato mixture into a blender and blend on high until smooth.
- Place a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl. Carefully pour the gazpacho into the sieve and use the back of a wooden spoon to push the soup through the sieve.
- Discard the large chunks and rinse the sieve.
- Place the strained soup back into the blender and blend a second time.
- Strained the soup again through the sieve.
- Cover the strained gazpacho with plastic wrap and chill for 2-3 hours to allow the flavors to further develop.
- When ready to serve, give the gazpacho a good stir. Ladle the gazpacho into chilled bowls. Top with diced tomato, cucumber, cilantro and other toppings of your choice.