Gazpacho

I have been *dying* to make gazpacho for a looooong time now.  I have had it in Paris, in NYC, and here in NJ and I have *loved* it each time.  The problem is my husband is not a fan.  So, when family was visiting I decided it was the perfect opportunity to make it.  (Granted, I have a very picky family and I knew that 5 out of the 7 of them wouldn’t even try it.  Having 2 eat it with me is better than none though!)

Gazpacho is a cold tomato-based vegetable soup.  I really think it’s fabulous in summer.  It’s refreshing and crisp.  There’s no cooking involved either, so it’s quick to make.  I used Ina Garten’s recipe from foodnetwork.com.  The flavor was fantastic and I loved the crunch from all the raw veggies.  You really need to make this the night before though.  It gets better and better the longer it sits in the fridge!

• Roughly chop 1 cucumber, 2 red bell peppers, 4 plum tomatoes, and 1 red onion.  (Seed the cucumber before chopping.)

• Finely chop each veggie in your food processor.  Do not overprocess though.  (This is yet another time when I wished I had a normal sized food processor.  I had do to several batches per vegetable with my mini-chop!)

• After you chop each vegetable, add it to a large bowl.

• Once all 4 veggies are in the bowl, give them a good mix.

• Next, chop 3 cloves of garlic.

• Add the garlic to the bowl.

• Add 1/4 cup EVOO to the veggie mixture.

• Then add 1/4 cup white vinegar.

• Pour in 3 cups of tomato juice.

• Season with 1/2 tablespoon salt.

• Last, add 1 teaspoon black pepper.

• Mix everything well once last time.

• Refrigerate overnight for best results.

I hope you enjoy as much as I did!