heirloom tomato gazpacho

It’s summer, and what soup says summer better than gazpacho, right? Gazpacho is seriously the perfect summer soup for many reasons. First off, it’s a cold soup, so it’s the perfect soup to sip on a hot summer day or night. Secondly, it doesn’t require you to heat up a stove or oven, which is bonus when it’s 90 plus degrees out. I call it the lazy mans soup because when your tired and famished all you have to do is pull out a batch from the fridge, pour it in a bowl and eat away. It’s also a great weekday soup because it takes under 30 minutes to make, just chop up the fresh ingredients and toss them in a blender! Make a batch in the morning while the kids are eating breakfast, or before you rush off to work, and when you come home all tired from a long day, you dinner will be ready! How nice does that sound?

This particular gazpacho uses fresh, seasonal and whole ingredients, so you won’t be opening up any cans of tomatoes or boxes of stock for this soup. Plus, this soup uses ripe heirloom tomatoes, and those in my eyes are the perfect tomato, as they’re sweet, juicy and have an intense one of a kind flavor, they’re not bland like most grocery store varieties.

This is the perfect make ahead soup for a summer dinner or lunch! I love serving this soup up on the deck family style!  I place out bowls of fresh homemade croutons, (ok, you will have to turn on the oven to make these, but you can make them up in the morning, when it’s cooler) diced red onion, sliced basil, diced cucumber, diced red pepper and cilantro leaves. I also put out bottles of olive oil and balsamic for people to top their soup with. It’s like a big family style picnic where everyone gets to create their own little bowl of summer heaven.  

heirloom tomato gazpacho:

recipe adapted from Everyday Health

serves 4-6

• 3 1/2 pounds (roughly 5 large or 3 very large and 2 medium sized) ripe heirloom tomatoes, cored and chopped into large chunks- I usually just weigh 3 1/2 pounds of heirloom tomatoes, as they all vary in size. If you’re getting these from your garden take a look at my ingredient photo below and you can see the sizes I used. I used 3 very large ones and 2 medium ones.
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 medium jalapeño, (or 1 1/4 jalapeños) sliced and de-seeded – I actually used 1 1/4 jalapeños and a few seeds, as I wanted the soup a bit spicier, but you can add this to taste.
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, divided
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
• 1/4 cup minced red onion (roughly 1/2 of a small red onion) – reserve the rest of the onion for garnish
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup finely sliced basil leaves (about 10 leaves)
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar – or more to taste

Some garnish ideas: 

• diced cucumber – mandatory in my eyes, as it adds a chunky texture to the soup
• diced red onion
• fresh homemade croutons – another mandatory garnish in my house!
• extra-virgin olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• diced avocado
• cilantro leaves
• diced red or yellow pepper

Below are all the fresh ingredients needed to make this soup!

Wash, core and chop up the tomatoes. You don’t need to de-seed these tomatoes, just chop them up and use it all!

Not sure how to core a tomato? Check out the step-by-step photos below. Wash and chop the cilantro, and finely slice the basil leaves.  Mince the garlic clove and red onion.

Get out a large blender (I used my Vitamix) and place about a third of the chopped tomatoes into the blender; add the minced garlic, sliced jalapeño, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt.
 Blend on the highest speed until completely smooth.

NOTE:  The soup color will vary depending on what color tomatoes you use.  When I use a mixture of yellow and red heirlooms, the soup comes out more orange in color. When I use a batch of red heirlooms, my soup comes out a deeper red-orange.  If you’re going for a deeper red-orange color, then use more red heirlooms. 

Pour the first batch into a large bowl and repeat the process with the remaining tomatoes, red wine vinegar and olive oil.  You may just need to do one more batch if you have a large blender, or 2 more batches if your blender is smaller. 

Add the rest of the pureed soup to the bowl.

Stir in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to the pureed soup.  Taste the soup, and if you want more heat, return 1 cup of the pureed soup to the blender and add in some more jalapeño.  Once blended, pour the soup back into the bowl and give it a stir.

Stir in 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, minced red onion, chopped cilantro, and sliced basil. Season the soup to taste. You may want to add in a bit more balsamic or salt. I chose to keep the big batch of soup the way it was, and let my guests/kids add more salt, balsamic or olive oil per individual taste. 

Pour the soup into a sealed container and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, or until cool.  This soup tastes best day one, but will keep if kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

I love serving this soup up on the deck family style! I place out bowls of fresh homemade croutons, diced red onion, sliced basil, diced cucumber, diced red or yellow pepper and cilantro leaves. I also put out bottles of olive oil and balsamic for people to top their soup with. It’s like a big family style picnic where everyone gets to create their own little bowl of summer heaven.

My favorite way to enjoy this soup is with some diced red onion, diced cucumber, diced red pepper, homemade croutons! YUM!  The cucumber and red pepper add that extra crunchy texture, and the croutons just absorb the soup, making it extra yummy!

If you want more spice for your individual bowl of soup, try adding some green tabasco sauce. My friend Steve swears by this stuff, and is always topping his gazpacho with it!  He’s a gazpacho fan and gave this soup the double thumbs up!  Yippee!If you love heirloom tomatoes, then you have to try my heirloom tomato soup!  This soup is the bomb! It’s completely vegan, but tastes like there is cream in it. Go figure! It’s kid approved, loved and devoured!Check back later this week, when I’ll show you how to make these homemade croutons!  They’re so easy to make, and really make a difference in any salad or soup!

5 from 1 reviews

heirloom tomato gazpacho

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

This cold soup just takes under 30 minutes to make and uses whole, fresh seasonal ingredeints. This is the perfect make ahead soup for a summer dinner or lunch!

Author: Marin mama cooks

Recipe type: soup

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 3½ pounds (roughly 5 large or 3 very large and 2 medium sized) ripe heirloom tomatoes, cored and chopped into large chunks - I usually just weigh 3½ pounds of heirloom tomatoes, as they all vary in size. If you're getting these from your garden take a look at my ingredient photo below and you can see the sizes I used. I used 3 very large ones and 2 medium ones.
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 medium jalapeño, (or 1¼ jalapeños) sliced and de-seeded - I actually used 1¼ jalapeños and a few seeds, as I wanted the soup a bit spicier, but you can add this to taste.
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, divided
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
• ¼ cup minced red onion (roughly ½ of a small red onion) - reserve the rest of the onion for garnish
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves
• ¼ cup finely sliced basil leaves (about 10 leaves)
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar - or more to taste
• Some garnish ideas:
• diced cucumber - mandatory in my eyes, as it adds a chunky texture to the soup
• diced red onion
• fresh homemade croutons - recipe later this week - another mandatory garnish in my house!
• extra-virgin olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• diced avocado
• cilantro leaves
• diced red or yellow pepper

Instructions

1. Wash, core and chop up the tomatoes. You don't need to de-seed these tomatoes, just chop them up and use it all! Not sure how to core a tomato? Check out the step-by-step photos in my post.
2. Wash and chop the cilantro, and finely slice the basil leaves.
3. Mince the garlic clove and red onion.
4. Get out a large blender (I used my Vitamix) and place about a third of the chopped tomatoes into the blender; add the minced garlic, sliced jalapeño, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil and ¼ teaspoon sea salt.
5. Blend on the highest speed until completely smooth.
6. NOTE: The soup color will vary depending on what color tomatoes you use. When I use a mixture of yellow and red heirlooms, the soup comes out more orange in color. When I use a batch of red heirlooms, my soup comes out a deeper red-orange. If you're going for a deeper red-orange color, then use more red heirlooms.
7. Pour the first batch into a large bowl and repeat the process with the remaining tomatoes, red wine vinegar and olive oil. You may just need to do one more batch if you have a large blender, or 2 more batches if your blender is smaller.
8. Add the rest of the pureed soup to the bowl.
9. Stir in the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt to the pureed soup.
10. Taste the soup, and if you want more heat, return 1 cup of the pureed soup to the blender and add in some more jalapeño. Once blended, pour the soup back into the bowl and give it a stir.
11. Stir in 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, minced red onion, chopped cilantro, and sliced basil. Season the soup to taste. You may want to add in a bit more balsamic or salt. I chose to keep the big batch of soup the way it was, and let my guests/kids add more salt, balsamic or olive oil per individual taste.
12. Pour the soup into a sealed container and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, or until cool. This soup tastes best day one, but will keep if kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
13. I love serving this soup up on the deck family style! I place out bowls of fresh homemade croutons, diced red onion, sliced basil, diced cucumber, diced red or yellow pepper and cilantro leaves. I also put out bottles of olive oil and balsamic for people to top their soup with. It's like a big family style picnic where everyone gets to create their own little bowl of summer heaven.
14. My personal favorite way to enjoy this soup is with some diced red onion, diced cucumber, diced red pepper, homemade croutons! YUM! The cucumber and red pepper add that extra crunchy texture, and the croutons just absorb the soup, making it extra yummy!
15. If you want more spice for your individual bowl of soup, try adding some green tabasco sauce. My friend Steve swears by this stuff, and is always topping his gazpacho with it!

3.3.3077