July 24th
2009
There are certain recipes that are not to be messed with. No culinary experiments, no fanciful pimpin’. Real classics don’t need it. Instead it’s all about flavorful ingredients that shine on their own. Whenever we attempt a Spanish classic, our friend Carlos is the first reference person. He supplies us with the best Chorizo, feeds his friends the most amazing Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, serves stunning Queimada and has taught us how to make Tortilla de Betanzos together with his friend Juan.
Since he taught us his Gazpacho recipe a few weeks ago we’ve come to realize how many bland and mediocre lookalikes we’ve had before. Tasty, ripe tomatoes are a must, but well balanced seasoning is equally important. The best about this summer soup? It’s healthy, addictive, refreshing – and prepared within less than 10 minutes. But I have more: just like a good Chili con Carne or Lasagne, this soup tastes even better on the next day, when the flavors had time to sit and mingle. Give it a try, even if you’re not a soup person!
And if you’re in the mood for something more elaborate, why not freeze your Gazpacho and have a granita or sorbet? It certainly makes for a rather unusual appetizer, just be sure to add some vodka (2-3 tbsp) and strain the final mix through a fine mesh sieve (to enhance its frozen consistency) before moving it to your freezer’s compartment or ice cream machine.
Put the slices of stale white bread in a bowl and cover with cold water. Set aside. Chill serving bowls or glasses (optional).
Prepare the vegetables:
- Cut the tomatoes in quarters, stem to tail, then remove the stem ends.
- Quarter and deseed bell peppers (reserve half of the red and half of the green bell pepper for later use), then cut them into long fingerthick stripes, then smaller pieces.
- Cut about half of the small cucumber into thin slices (reserve the other half).
- Peel the onion, then cut half of it into thin slices (reserve the other half).
- Peel the garlic clove(s), then cut them into thin slices.
Prepare the tropezones: Cut the reserved bell pepper, cucumber and onion halves into neat little cubes or bitesize pieces – they will become tropezones (“stumbling stones”) in your final soup. Set aside for later use.
A large blender is the perfect tool to prepare Gazpacho (but a handheld blender can be used, too), just throw all of your prepared vegetables (tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, onion, garlic) MINUS the prepared tropezones into your blender and mix at medium speed until your vegetables have turned into juice and their blender volume has decreased significantly.
Add the bread slices (no need to squeeze out the water), season with sea salt, sugar, freshly ground black pepper, chili flakes, vinegar, olive oil and a small handful of ice cubes, before putting the blender to work again. Mix until the Gazpacho reaches a smooth consistency and you cannot hear any more crackling sounds from the added ice cubes (add more ice cubes, if you want your soup more liquid).
Season to taste (there’s nothing more boring than a flavorless seasoned Gazpacho!) and pour into chilled bowls (if you like your soup really cold, add one or two ice cubes to each bowl). Serve with a tablespoon of tropezones, drizzle with some more olive oil and a good pinch of black pepper. Enjoy immediately.
Gazpacho con Tropezones
Recipe source: our friend Carlos
Prep time: ~10 minutes
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Ingredients (for 3-4 as a snack):
2 slices of stale white bread
500g ripe tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 small cucumber
1 white onion
1-2 garlic cloves
~1 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 - 1 tsp sugar
freshly ground black pepper
optional: a good pinch of dried chili flakes
2-3 tbsp white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
4-5 tbsp fruity olive oil
a small handful of ice cubes
serve with some vegetable cubes ("tropezones"), an additional drizzle of olive oil and some more black pepper
Great recipe, as good as spanish
I think the sherry vinegar is what makes it. looks great and I love the idea of freezing gazpacho.
I adore gazpacho - this version looks especially delicious. Cannot wait to try it, thanks for sharing!
Love the idea of gazpacho sorbet!
This looks fresh and delicious - yum!
Tomatoes, fresh from the garden, are the best for this. In the summer nothing beats a great gazpacho.
I have a great respect and admiration for traditional recipes such as Gazpacho because they're good, simple and healthy.
But I admire even more how you always manage to improve whatever recipe comes into your hands by giving it a new and refreshing twist - while maintaining the original essence. The frozen Gazpacho is just magnificent. Chapeau.
Que rico !!!
No se que sería de nosotros los andaluces sin el gazpacho en verano, cuando te tomas un vaso bien frío que bien te sientes !!!
Esta muy bien esta receta aúnque yo no pongo cebolla, en Sevilla no se pone cebolla, en Cadiz si se pone.
Prubeba los tropezones de taquitos de jamón, y huevo cocido, eso es una delicia.
Saludos
Mimi
I left a comment the other day - not quite sure what happened to it....in any case, made this gazpacho immediately upon reading the recipe and it was fantastic. I was never much of a gazpacho fan, but now I'm a convert.
If you like Gazpacho, then you must ask Carlos to make you a Salmorejo!
Delicious! I've yet to successfully make a Gazpacho but I am thinking I will have to try this out. I am still a cook in training and I must say, the house is complaining. Experimenting with new recipes is what I enjoy doing and this is one I will have to do over the next few days.
Thanks for sharing this and thank you Carlos!
Wie sieht es mit gelben Tomaten aus, meinst Du, so eine Gazpacho schmeckt? Ich denke, das sieht bestimmt sehr ansprechend aus.
Gazpacho, delicious! I have to try it, too! Maybe next weekend.. or tomorrow... or today?
I LOVE the idea of using the gazpacho for a sorbet and will definitely try it soon!
There is a similar recipe that I found to be one of the better gazpacho recipes that we posted on our blog.
To Lisa: Yes, I tried gazpacho (the recipe I posted) with yellow tomatoes - it works just as well and is a great change!
sorry, just had a typo in my url, this one is correct:
My best friend gave me your book for a gift and I'm so happy about it. Your Good Morning muffins are my favourite so far. I'm very glad I found your blog, now I can try even more of your recipes. This Gazpacho is on my list and it looks very refeshing. Sorry for my bad English!
As they are not overpowered by a plethora of spices, the flavors of the fresh vegetables must shine in this Gazpacho. Grand suggestion for serving it frozen as well.
Tiene un aspecto muy auténtico, felicidades!
Para los tropezones, también recomiendo almendra un poco tostada y picada.
Wow, this dish was delicious! I recommend this to anyone who like Gazpacho.
Fantastic photos, and the perfect idea for this sweltering afternoon here in Marin County, CA. Maybe heresy but a small pinch of smoked paprika will go in mine, along with a few chopped pieces of the world's greatest chile, the manzano. Thanks very much.
Oh my, this looks delicious! This will surely be my lunch sometime this week.
I'm loving this-- the best recipes for me are quite simple and straightforward, but healthy and delicious. Could you post on more soups?? Tara
this looks beautiful and delicious!
I love these simple no-cook soups.
[...] Oliver, based out of Munich. The recipe itself comes from their friend Carlos, fittingly named Gazpacho con Tropezones or stumbling stones, for it’s pepper and cucumber garnish. Once I’d finally jumped to [...]
I love the sorbet idea! Personally I like having some chunky texture to my Gazpacho so I dice them into petite cubes and then puree around 3/4 of the mix.
I will have to try to make the sorbet next time!
[...] sprinkled on top. The recipe is from here (the pistachios are not in the original recipe): Gazpacho con Tropezones delicious:days. I wrote in my journal stats the amounts I used to make mine, if anyone is curious. [...]
[...] con Tropezones Source: Gazpacho con Tropezones delicious:days 250 g tomatoes, peeled, cut in wedges 40 g cucumber, peeled, diced 25 g green bell pepper, peeled [...]
Hi Nicky,
My husband lived for four years in Spain and loves Gazpacho, gulping down liters and liters of it everytime we are in Spain. So I thought I would make him a treat tonight. Unfortunately te flavour of the onion (or was it garlic?) overpowered it all. Next time I am going to try it without the onions like Mimi said on the coments.
Thanks for the great recipes and inspiration!
Hi Renata, please feel free to adapt the recipes to your liking :) Yet if using onions, be sure to use the white ones for this recipes, their taste is very mild and shouldn't be overpowering in the end.
[...] photography note: if I had a nice camera, I would have taken blender pictures like the ones in this amazing recipe. Instead, you get photos of my blender clearly sitting on my floor because that’s where the [...]
I love a great gazpacho recipe - thank you for this one! I have one that I love called "Golden Gazpacho," made with yellow tomatoes and carrot juice, that I think is wonderful -- here's the link, see what you think of it?
http://framed-mylifeonepictureatatime.blogspot.com/2009/06/golden-gazpacho.html