In mid to late summer, as your garden tomatoes start to ripen, you’ll find yourself looking for a variety of ways to prepare the juicy ripe fruits of your labour. After you’ve eaten more sliced tomato or BLTs than you can count, you may want to start experimenting with some recipes that work well with garden ripe tomatoes.
What I like about this no-cook soup, is that you are not cooking away the rich nutrients and flavours of your home-grown tomatoes. Gazpacho comes to us from Spain but is open to regional or personal variations. In my version, some seasonal local fruit is included for a hint of sweetness, smoked paprika adds some depth, while the mellow pearl onions and chives don’t overpower the wonderful marriage of the super fresh ingredients.
I like to remove the seeds from the tomatoes since they end up ruining the otherwise velvety smooth texture of the soup. After slicing the tomatoes in half, you can just scoop out the seeds and their goo, set aside, then strain the juice into the soup.
Gazpacho with Garden Ripe Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ripe garden tomatoes trimmed and seeds removed
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers peeled, coarsely chopped
- ½ red bell pepper coarsely chopped
- 2 white pearl onions or 1 scallion coarsely chopped
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped
- 1 ripe peach or plum peeled and pitted
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tsp red wine vinegar
- ½ tsp Himalayan pink salt or to taste
- 1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
- 2 tbsp chives finely chopped for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, crush the garlic into the salt with a pestle.
- Trim the ends off the tomatoes then slice them in half.
- Remove the tomato seeds and their gooey coating with your fingers or a spoon, then set the seedy goo aside.
- Coarsely chop the tomatoes and add to the bowl along with the other ingredients, except the chives.
- Sieve the tomato seed goo and add the juice to the mixture.
- Toss the ingredients, cover and marinate at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Add the marinated ingredients to a blender and blend for about 30 seconds
- Chill for 30 minutes or more.
- Divide the gazpacho into serving bowls and garnish with chives.
Notes
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10 Best Fresh Tomato Recipes
One reply on “Gazpacho with Garden Ripe Tomatoes”
[…] What’s nice about this no-cook soup, is that you don’t cook away the rich flavours of your home-grown tomatoes. In this recipe, some seasonal local fruit is included for a hint of sweetness, smoked Spanish paprika adds some depth, while the mellow pearl onions and chives don’t overpower the wonderful marriage of the super fresh ingredients. FULL RECIPE […]