I swear , if you consume one bowl, the amount of antioxidants and anti aging and fiber and vitamin benefits that are packed in that red goodness...well you can save yourself that anti aging facial at least for a week.Real value for money, this.Oh, and it fasts quite good too.All yumminess that I needed some more sangria to gulp this down.It's so true... My taste buds are so used to cholesterol rich, meat laden, spicy food that it was a little difficult to appreciate the goodness in the first sip.
I have never tried gazpacho in a restaurant. I'd rather bite the food,not gulp it down. So this was a first timer. I followed most of the instructions of Anthony Bourdain , because I find his take on such healthy salad Iike stuff good.Face it.This is a salad,that you can drink.So if you are feel up for a light salad or you love soups...Make this version of Gazpacho.PS ,there are many versions....the one with grapes and almond looks the most interesting. However,I shudder to think of the four figure calorie score in one bowl.So I went with light and healthy. This is enough for two people.
For the
Gazpacho- Spanish Cold Soup.
you need
4-5 Ripe tomatoes 1 large red bell pepper 1 cucumber 1 small bunch celery stalks6-7 cloves garlic 1/2 cup tomato juice -store bought -I used Real Tomato juice1-2 tsp sugarOne whole red onion Tabasco sauce to tasteSalt ,pepper and lemon juice3-4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil2-3 slices Stale brown bread or sourdough bread that no one is eating
Start with the onion.Place the whole onion on your gas stove and allow it to char. If you don't want to burn the onion.roughly chop and drizzle with some olive oil and roast in the oven at 200C for 20-30 minutes. Now a sole onion doesn't warrant so much consumption of electricity,so I charred the onion.Once cool, I peeled off the topmost layers and chopped the onion.I didn't want the raw smell of the onion,so I did this.
De seed the pepper,dice the tomatoes ,cucumber,garlic and celery .Soak the bread in cold water and squeeze dry.
Now in your liquidiser jar of your blender, pop in all the veggies and the tomato juice and almost all the olive oil. Add in most of the bread.Blend and check ,add salt ,pepper,lemon juice and Tabasco.The bread keeps the gazpacho together.So you don't see stray patches of pale liquid around.Add more bread and add some sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes.
Pour into a glass bowl and cover and chill for atleast 6 hours.The flavours need to Mingle and marry. Gazpacho tastes best chilled and with a glass of wine.It tasted good after a few sips...I needed more Tabasco,but the simple fact that every drop of gazpacho is so good for the body made it tastier.Wholesome and appetising.
Bring out your soup bowls or plates.These soup plates are my mums... Almost as old as I am.A legacy of Arcoroc dinner ware...Sprinkle some olive oil and top with finely chopped pepper and celery.
We had ours with Paella,Sangria and the Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake with Chocolate base.A taste of Spain, here only in Amchi Mumbai.
You can serve this gazpacho in shot glasses with a celery stick or a slice of avocado,as an amuse bouche at your dinner party.Seriously sophisticated entrée at play here.
Try this version of Gazpacho.It's super easy and quick. And is sure to bring many compliments.
So what are baking today???
