Gazpacho — Cold Tomato Soup for Hot Days, No Cooking
Yvonne Ammann VeganBlend 1 kg ripe tomatoes, half a cucumber, a pepper, garlic and a slice of soaked white bread until smooth, drizzle in olive oil slowly, season with vinegar and salt, chill at least 2 hours. The bread thickens and makes the soup velvety; cold, it needs more salt and vinegar than you think.
On the days when nobody wants to turn on the stove, gazpacho is the answer: everything raw into the blender, two hours in the fridge, done. It needs the ripest tomatoes there are — in August from a Swiss farm or the balcony — and a slice of bread to make it velvety. The rest is salt, vinegar and cold. It is the only soup anyone wants to eat at 32 degrees.
Ingredients
- 1 kg Tomatoes (very ripe)
- ½ piece Cucumber
- 1 piece Bell pepper (green or red)
- 1 piece Garlic clove
- 1 slice White bread (day-old, crusts off)
- 4 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tbsp Sherry vinegar
- 1 tsp Salt
- Pepper
- 1 dl Water (cold)
Method
- 1
Soak the bread
Tear the bread into small pieces and soak in the water for 5 minutes.
- 2
Vegetables
Quarter the tomatoes, remove the cores. Peel and roughly chop the cucumber, deseed and roughly chop the pepper, peel the garlic. Keep a few cubes of cucumber and pepper for garnish.
- 3
Blend
Everything into the blender with the bread and blend 2 minutes until completely smooth. With the blender running, drizzle in the olive oil slowly — this makes the soup creamy and lighter in colour. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper.
- 4
Chill
Pass through a sieve if you want it very fine. Chill at least 2 hours. Taste again before serving — cold, it needs more salt and vinegar.
- 5
Serve
Into cold bowls, drizzle with olive oil, scatter the cucumber and pepper cubes and croutons over.
Tips
- Gazpacho stands or falls on the tomatoes. Unripe supermarket tomatoes give a watery, sour soup. In summer, ripe Swiss tomatoes, ideally the overripe ones from the market stall that nobody wants — perfect and cheap.
- Keeps three days in the fridge and improves on day two. In a bottle it is the summer lunch to take along — a glass of gazpacho is a plate of vegetables.
- As a main with boiled egg, diced ham and bread on top — that is how it is eaten in Andalusia. Or a piece of toasted bread with feta alongside.
What can I substitute?
Sherry vinegar is the original and rounded. Red wine vinegar is sharper, cider vinegar milder — taste afterwards.
Without bread it is thinner and gluten-free. Almonds thicken similarly and add a nutty note.
The sweeter summer version — children prefer it. Less vinegar, a little more salt.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from the ingredients.
Frequently asked questions
Why does bread go into gazpacho?
It thickens the soup and makes it velvety rather than watery — and it is the origin of the dish, which began in Andalusia as stale bread, oil, vinegar and garlic long before tomatoes arrived from America. One slice is enough; more turns it into mush.
Why is my gazpacho bland?
Cold dulls flavour — a soup seasoned right at room temperature tastes of little ice-cold. After chilling, add more salt and vinegar until it is clearly sharp and salty. Second reason: unripe tomatoes. Only a spoonful of tomato purée helps there.
Do you need to peel the tomatoes for gazpacho?
No, if the blender is powerful and the soup is sieved afterwards. With a stick blender bits of skin remain — then either peel (30 seconds in boiling water) or sieve.
How long does gazpacho keep?
Three days in the fridge in a sealed bottle. It separates — shake before serving. Freezing works, but the texture is slightly grainier afterwards.
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