The (too) hot summer days are approaching, when we will want to avoid the stove like the devil to prepare food. The heat alone will kill you, and cooking next to hot pots will be a real must, because you will be as red in the head as a boiled crab. That's why we looked for the ideal dish for hot summer days, which will fill you up and keep you away from the stove - Andalusian gazpacho. Refreshing, nutritious and cold Spanish soup born for summer, prepared from seasonal vegetables (fresh tomatoes, peppers, spices,...) and bread.
If anyone, then you have to trust the Spanish when it comes to food suitable for hot summer days, when the asphalt is whitened and the walls of the houses are as warm as radiators in winter in the evening. The Spaniards are one of those who live in even more dog heat than we do, so they know how to counter it. This time we will turn to for help Andalusians (southern Spain) which from tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, bread and other ingredients are prepared cold and refreshing gazpacho soup, which was prepared already in the 12th century in Manča, the place of the famous literary hero Don Quixote. For this, his father Sančo Pansa prepared gazpacho with rabbit.
The word gazpacho comes from the Latin word caspa, meaning scraps. Of course, we are not talking about leftovers from other food, but things that are almost always found either in the pantry or in the refrigerator. Even otherwise, gazpacho or gazpacho is something special among soups, because served cold, even chilled. Because it's about fast food it does not have to be cooked, which is not only practical in the summer, as it means no bending over the stove, but also supplies us with the necessary vitamins.
Recipe for Andalusian gazpacho:
Ingridients:
- 500 g of fresh tomatoes
- 1 green pepper
- 1 cucumber
- 1.25-1.5 dl of olive oil
- 2-3 tablespoons of wine/balsamic vinegar
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
- 2-3 slices of white or whole wheat bread
- (sea) salt
Soup stock:
- 1 tomato
- 1 green pepper
- 1 small onion
- 1 slice of bread
- 60 g of prosciutto
- 1-2 eggs
Preparation of Andalusian gazpacho:
Crumble the bread, pour some cold water over it and let it soak 30 minutes. Meanwhile, clean, deseed and dice the pepper and cucumber, cut the tomato into quarters, and chop the garlic. All together put in a food processor, add soaked bread and pour oil. Mix the mixture in smooth, fairly thick puree (if it is too thick, add some cold water). Then it is seasoned with salt, pickled and covered with transparent foil and for a minimum 60 minutes (even better, more) put in the refrigerator. You can finish here, but if you want to take the matter completely to the end, there are still a few little things waiting for you, more precisely soup stock. They go perfectly with soup toasted bread cubes, thinly sliced bell pepper, prosciutto (cut into pieces) and hard-boiled egg (cut into small cubes). Serve the soup in a chilled bowl (can also be a glass), preferably a pot, and a soup addition offer separately, so that everyone can add it to the soup according to their own preferences (also offer grated cheese).
READ MORE: Recipe: Elderberry panna cotta
Gazpacho can serve as appetizer, main course or we serve it at the end of the meal.
