A recent vintage cookbook I inherited from a friend of my mother's was Soup A Way of Life by Barbara Kafka. What an amazing book, I have poured over the pages and been inspired to recreate so many dishes. One of the first soups to be featured in the book is a recipe for a gazpacho that is written by none other than James Beard. A perfectly balanced recipe that compliments these hot and humid days of summer. I made mine with a slightly more spice by adding half of a jalapeño pepper instead of chili powder and substituting two small green peppers for one large red pepper.
Ingredients;
1/2 Bermuda or other sweet white onion, peeled and quartered
1 1/2 firm medium cucumbers, peeled and cut in small pieces
1 large red pepper, seeded and cut in eighths
6 medium to large tomatoes, peeled and cut in eighths
5 large garlic cloves
1 cup (or more) tomato juice
1/2 cup light olive oil
1/2 of a jalapeño
1 Tbs. kosher salt
Prep the vegetables.
With metal blade in place of food processor, add the onion to the beaker. Process, turning on and off rapidly, until finely chopped, about 4-5 seconds.
Transfer onion to a large bowl.
Repeat with the cucumbers, then with the red pepper, adding each to the bowl with the onions.
Process 5 of the tomatoes until evenly chopped into small pieces. Transfer to the bowl with the other chopped ingredients.
Process the remaining tomato with garlic, tomato juice, olive oil and chili pepper until a smooth liquid is formed.
Combine with chopped vegetables and chill in a covered container.
Before serving, taste for salt and adjust.
I garnished mine with a dollop of Greek yogurt for a little tangy flavor
If texture is too thick add more tomato juice or a combination if 1/2 tomato juice. Vegetables are chopped separately to enable control of the texture of each. It is not necessary to wash beaker of processor between vegetables. Also, we use V-8 for the tomato juice.
I have been enjoying the leftovers for the past few days!
