I went 27 years of my life never making Gazpacho and in the past 2 weeks I’ve made it 3 times. I blame hot yoga and my crazy water cravings. ;)
“Gazpacho is a cold Spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup, originating in the southern region of Andalusia. Gazpacho is widely consumed throughout Spain, neighboring Portugal (where it is known as gaspacho) and parts of Latin America. Gazpacho is mostly consumed during the summer months, due to its cold temperature and acidic bite.” [source]
Gazpacho is not only refreshing and light during the Spring and Summer months, but it is packed with healthy ingredients- a ‘salad in a blender’ if you will. I just can’t get enough of it!
My first attempt…was not something I’m proud of. I learned a very important lesson when making Gazpacho- go EASY on the raw garlic! Lesson #1 learned. I did keep away the vampires though.
I also found out that blending spinach and basil with tomatoes produces a lovely puke green colour…
Lesson #2 learned. Avoid puke green.
My second attempt was better and I loved my third attempt, so I‘m sharing it with you today. I can’t think of a better way to kick off the Victoria Day long weekend than by sitting down to a fresh bowl of chilled Gazpacho. After all, it just may balance out all that beer we will be drinking!
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Gazpacho
Yield
2 litres (8 cups)
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Chill time
3 to 4 hours, or overnight
Total time
This is the perfect soup to serve on a hot summer day. Bonus points if you’re eating outside! A word to the wise, this recipe makes a lot—almost 8 cups. I find it barely fits in my 64-ounce Vitamix. If you are using a smaller blender, I recommend blending the soup in batches before mixing it all together at the end.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (500 mL) vegetable cocktail or tomato juice*
- 1 1/2 pounds (0.6 kg) tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
- 1 medium/large (425 g) red pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
- 1 medium/large English cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup (30 g) chopped sweet onion
- 1 medium/large garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) fresh lime juice, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 1/2–3 tablespoons (22.5 to 45 mL) red wine vinegar, to taste
- Chopped bell peppers, avocado, green onion, olive oil, croutons, etc., for serving
Directions
- Combine the vegetable cocktail or tomato juice, tomatoes, red pepper, cucumber, onion, garlic, lime juice, and parsley (if using) in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Add in the rest of the seasonings (salt, red pepper flakes, pepper, and vinegar) to taste, and blend again.
- Pour into a 2-litre/8 cup glass jar and secure lid. Chill for 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.
- Before serving, shake the jar to combine. Pour into bowls, and garnish with your desired toppings (such as chopped peppers, avocado, green onion, croutons, olive oil, etc.). Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Tip:
* I like to use Lakewood Organic Super Veggie Cocktail.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Some of you asked if I could show some before and afters using my new 5-in-1 Reflector Kit. This morning it was actually sunny, so I busted out the diffusion disc for this shoot.
One of the best photography tips I ever learned was taught to me by my wedding photographer, Dave Biesse. I was excited that it was sunny for our outdoor engagement shoot and he said bright sunlight is actually the worst condition to shoot in (unless of course you are going for a certain kind of look). The sun creates a very harsh-looking photo if you aren’t careful.
Case in point: this produce was shot in direct sunlight. It looks harsh and shadowy.
Check out the same shot, using my diffusion disc placed in front of the window. Quite the difference. You can see that the glare is gone.
Another direct sunlight shot:
With diffusion disc…much better!
I’m happy to have a diffusion disc now because I used to have to move my table out of the sunlight and it was pretty annoying to keep shuffling everything around. Now I can just place the disc in front of the window and shoot away.
I also thought I would show you the first shot of the Gazpacho that I took:
Boring. Bland. Not exciting at all. It really doesn’t do this vibrant gazpacho any justice, does it?
I decided to play up the yellow pepper garnish, and I added these yellow rimmed plates (a birthday gift from Morgan!)
It was an improvement, but the black background still wasn’t doing it for me. It was too serious and sombre looking for this playful soup.
I tried this placemat:
Still not crazy about it!
Then, I decided to add some props (tomatoes and parsley) and a new placemat…
It really started to come together when I did this.
In this photo, I tilted the placemat so that the lines create more movement in the photo. I still don’t feel that skilled with food photography, but practice definitely helps! I would love to take a food photography workshop someday.
Before: After:
Moral of the story: Play with your food. :)
And go have yourself a great Friday!
Angela,
GORGEOUS colors in your photos today. I honestly could hang those in my kitchen with the intense reds!!! Love it! A little bit of extra time and effort made all the difference. That’s why you are so successful–little details matter! :)
I can’t wait until later on this summer when I can make this with fresh garden tomatoes!
I’ve never had gazpacho before, but I absolutely love V8 juice, so I’m sure I’d like this soup too. It sounds so refreshing!
These soups are reallllly getting me craving summer!
I came across your blog recently and I feel like it’s a perfect fit for me! I’m currently an undergrad psychology student at UWO, planning on going to get my Masters at UofT in psych next year, love to run, love to bake, and LOVE to eat. Could we really have more in common? :)
Aww thanks! We should meet one day :)
I absolutely love your photos!! I hope to get a nice camera someday and learn to take pictures like that. :-)
Gazpacho is my hubby’s favorite soup! I’ve tried a few variations but he says none of them compare to his ideal, which he had in a restaurant several years ago. Maybe this is “the one”! :)
I love tomato soup, and that is what the red gazpacho soup reminds me of. I am sure that the gazpacho is more flavorful, though.
Cheers to the weekend :)
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
I’ve never tried gazpacho because cold soup doesn’t appeal to me, but yet every time I see a photo or read a description, I think “Ohhh I’ve got to try that soon!” These pictures may have just sealed the deal. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
These pictures are beautiful! All of the colors are so pretty and summery :) I LOVE gazpacho!
I’ve never eaten or made gazpacho but, sure I would love it since I like salsa, V-8, etc. I’m gonna give it a try since it’s about to be 99 degrees tomorrow, ugh.
Beautiful Photography Angela! The soup looks great! :)
The photos look REALLY great!! You are so extremely talented! I love the simplicity of the black background in photo #9, but photo #1 is my fav! :) I’ve never made or eaten gazpacho, but I know I would love it!
This is such a great post. Not only does the gazpacho look wonderful, but I love your process of finding the best photo. I am at BlogHerFood and just took 2 classes on food photography and you are right on!! Loved reading this post after those classes :)
Hi! I read your blog, but I never commented before, but when I saw this recipe I couldn’t go without saying something. The thing is that I live on gazpacho most of the summer, it’s really refreshing, and the perfect side dish/light dinner. I’m Spanish, and I have to say that yours looks lovely. But I would like to tell you a couple of things I do different: I peel the tomatoes, I use red pepper and green pepper (2/3 green pepper and 1/3 red one), and I add cold water to make it less thick. We use to serve it cold, with some cumumber, onion and green pepper chopped, and some toasted/fried bread little cubes.
Obviously, the best way to make it is to adjust the ingredients to your personal taste.
By the way, I love your blog, and the photos!
Greetings from Spain!
Greetings!! Great tips. I heard that peeling the skins off works great..Im just too lazy most of the time! ;) I will have to try it though to compare. Also do you remove the tomato seeds too?
Hi again! My mum always uses a mincer and after that a food mill, so any seed is left there, but if you use a blender I don’t think it’s necessary to remove them before. Anyway, it’s always a cuestion of taste. I hope I was helpful!
I’ve been trying to play with my food photos a lot more lately, but I can’t even get anywhere near the beautiful photographs you have! :D Hopefully I’ll get better as I get more experience. I’ve been craving a cold soup since it’s been getting hotter here so this is perfect! Thanks!
It is so hot and humid here and I loooove tomatoes. This looks so vibrant and delicious, I can’t wait to try it!
With food like that, melting outside is not so bad (and better than being stuck inside!).
I love how much you know about photography and how much you’re willing to share. It’s great seeing the before and after’s!
I love gazpacho and will definitely try this recipe as soon as tomatos look in season. Your recipe looks delicious!!
Ah, I love gazpacho soup! And this one looks wonderful! Love your photos!
I know you dont do this kind of things on your blog, but I just gave you a Smile-you are beautiful award on my blog! Because.. you are! And because reading your blog motivates me to give my body what it needs! So thank you:)
thanks so much!
Hi!
Great recipe