Andalusian Gazpacho/Spanish Chilled Tomato Soup

For this month’s IFC, Sharanya of Just Not The Cakes challenged us with exotic array of Andalusian cuisine from Spain. Andalusia is one of the most populous and second largest communites in Spain, stretching south from sunny cities Cordoba and Seville all the way to Atlantic ocean and the Mediterranean sea. The name “Andalusia” was derived from the Arabic word “Al – Andalus”. Andalusia boasts many delicious foods offering travellers a chance to stimulate their palette while exploring.

You don’t have to be in Spain to enjoy an exotic Spanish soup, do you? So, I chose to do the Gazpacho and share it with you all. Gazpacho is a tomato based vegetable soup, traditionally served cold. It is a very healthy soup made with fresh vegetables and consumed during the summer months to beat the heat. Gazpacho is made with stale bread, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, capsicum, vinegar, olive oil and salt. The best part of gazpacho is, we can prepare this soup previous day and serve it either as an appetizer or as a main course with toasted bread. How hard can it be?

Here’s how to make Gazpacho with step by step photos…

Ingredients

Tomatoes	6
Cucumber	1 [medium size]
Onion	1 finely chopped
Capsicum/Bellpepper [green]	1 finely chopped
Garlic	1 clove
Bread slices	3
Extra virgin olive oil	¼ cup
White vinegar	1 tbsp
Lemon juice	2 tsp
Cumin powder	¼ tsp
Salt	As needed

For Garnishing

Croutons	7 to 8 pieces
Cucumber	2 tbsp finely chopped
Toasted almonds	6-8
Olive oil	¼ to ½ tsp
Capsicum	2 tbsp finely chopped
Black pepper powder	A dash

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 3 to 4

Method

In a deep pan boil the water real good, now drop the tomatoes in the water and leave for about 2-4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of iced water and cool. Peel the skin and keep it aside.

Meanwhile chop the onions, capsicum and cucumber to fine pieces.

Cut the edges of the bread; soak it in water for 10 minutes. Squeeze out the excess water and keep it aside.

Now add the squeezed out bread, tomatoes, onions, capsicum and cucumber to the blender and process until smooth. Add the olive oil, salt, lemon juice, cumin powder and process along with the vegetables.

Pour the soup to a container and refrigerate it at least for an hour.

Serve the soup along with a drizzle of olive oil and black pepper powder. Pass on the rest of the garnishing vegetables in a separate bowl. You can add all the ingredients mentioned for garnishing or choose which ever is readily available in your kitchen.

Delicious, healthy and filling Gazpacho is ready to be enjoyed.

Thank you all for visiting Priya’s Virundhu, please come back again for more exotic recipes from all over the world.

Check out other delectable soup varieties here...

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