As delicious and refreshing as it may be, I never used to get excited about making the well-known Spanish gaspacho, because flash-boiling the tomatoes, skinning and seeding them felt a little too tedious and labour-intensive to make a cold soup, you know? Especially since it mostly ends up being just an appetizer when we make it at home.
Enter the Vitamix and my attitude completely changed. As long as you’ve got the right tomatoes, all those hours of work are reduced to 5 minutes. Here I also add some crumbled herbed feta, which gives it a nice touch and makes it look lovely. Having said that, you could add all sorts of topping to it like sizzled chorizo, finely cut serrrano ham, or go vegan and just top it with freshly chopped parsley and a drizzle of good quality olive oil.
Serves 4 bowls as a first course
Ingredients
- 1 slice of day-old bread (I use gluten free)
- 8-10 Roma tomatoes (or your favorite variety)
- 2 red bell peppers (you can also use roasted red peppers from a jar if you don’t want to eat the skin)
- 2 scallions
- 3-4 small Persian cucumbers, peeled and seeded (about 1 cup)
- 2 tbsp good quality red wine vinegar (you could also use balsamic)
- 1/4 cup olive oil + 1 tbsp
- 1 tsp salt + more to adjust seasoning
- 1/2 cup coarsely crumbled feta cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley/basil (or a mix of both)
- Freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Soak the bread in some filtered water to soften it for a few minutes.
- In a high speed blender, place the tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, bread, vinegar and 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 tsp salt. Put on high for about 1 minute or until silky smooth. Taste and adjust salt seasoning and add pepper to taste.
- Cover and place in fridge for at least an hour but no more than 6 ideally so that the flavors blend well together
- When ready to serve, pour into small shot glasses (appetizer) or soup bowls (if you’re having it as first course or main)
- Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil on the feta and roll the pieces into the chopped herbs. Drop them on top of each glass or bowl.