How to make gazpacho step by step

Andalusian gazpacho ingredients

To make this gazpacho, you need 1 kg of ripe tomatoes, 50 g of bread crumbs from the day before, 1 cucumber, 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 red pepper, 1/2 green pepper, 1/2 onion, a few leaves of basil, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, pepper and salt.

Soak the bread and prepare the vegetables

On the one hand, take the bread from the day before and put it to soak in cold water. And on the other, prepare the ingredients for the gazpacho. Blanch the tomatoes for 1 minute, peel them, cut them into wedges and remove the seeds. Peel the cucumber and slice it. Wash the peppers, remove the stems, seeds and white filaments and cut them into small squares. And peel the garlic.

Blend and season the gazpacho

First, drain the bread and put it in the blender glass along with the previous ingredients and the washed and dried basil. Then add 1 1/2 cups of cold water and blend. Then, season with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. And finally, pour the gazpacho into a jug and let it cool in the fridge (at least a couple of hours).

Make the side and serve

A little before serving the dish, take tomato, cucumber, onion, and peppers, and wash and cut them into small cubes to make a mince. Serve the gazpacho, very cold, with the diced vegetables, a little chopped chives and fresh basil. And if you want, you can add some croutons (fried bread), but beware that they are very caloric.

Endless ways to bring it to the table

Here is an alternative to the classic presentation. We serve it in glasses, and we put the vegetable hash on a toast, which does not have as much fat as fried bread.

With aromatic herbs

Another option is to accompany the gazpacho with aromatic herbs, sprouts, nuts or seeds. It gives you a different and very current look.

Ham "croutons"

To make them, preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Arrange some slices of ham cut into strips on the plate lined with a sheet of parchment paper. Cover them with another sheet of paper and place another plate on top. Bake them for about 15 minutes, remove them and let them cool on absorbent paper.

How to Chill Gazpacho Faster

If you don't have time to chill it in the fridge for the recommended couple of hours, you can speed it up by adding a few ice cubes just before serving.

Gazpacho ice

To prevent it from running down when adding ice, an infallible trick is to make some ice cubes with gazpacho that you have left over from another occasion. This idea, in addition to cooling, fits perfectly as one of the tricks to take advantage of leftovers, the current called "save food".

Strawberry gazpacho

Another option to give a sophisticated and festive touch to the gazpacho is to substitute part of the tomato from the traditional recipe for strawberries, and add some parmesan flakes to it, as in this case. See recipe.

Gazpacho … without tomato!

If possible! If you don't like tomato or want to innovate, you can try other gazpachos like this one with cucumber, celery and basil, which is also very light. It only has 160 calories. See recipe.

Watermelon Gazpacho

As in the case of strawberry gazpacho, you can also substitute part of the tomato for watermelon, an infallible trick to take advantage of a watermelon that has turned out to be bland, and with delicious results. See recipe.

The traditional Andalusian gazpacho is a cold soup made from tomato and raw vegetables (usually cucumber, pepper, onion and garlic), which is thickened with a little breadcrumbs and is served with a mince of the same vegetables and croutons.

The powers of the tomato

As you have seen, there are gazpachos that do not have tomato. But if you do it with this food as the main ingredient, you will get many benefits for your health.

Fat burning The red color of tomato is due to lycopene, a substance that stimulates the production of the amino acid carnitine, which in turn favors the burning of fats. For this reason, it is considered one of the best foods to burn fat.
Antioxidant Lycopene is also a powerful antioxidant, which stops the negative action of free radicals and protects the skin, and also helps in the prevention of cancer.
Satiating If you combine it with cucumber, as in most gazpacho recipes, your plate will be filled with vitamins C and A, magnesium, antioxidants, and folic acid. And it is also a very satiating combination, so it is perfect for when you notice a hole in your stomach and you don't know what to eat.

Successes and mistakes when making gazpacho

Pick out some good tomatoes. Not just any type is worth the fact that you are going to shred them. The most suitable are those of pear and, the more ripe, the better. If they are hard, leave them out of the fridge for a couple of days until they soften and increase in sweetness.
A trick not for purists. If you do not have tomatoes in conditions and you want to make a gazpacho yes or yes, you can throw in pot tomatoes, which are usually pear and, in addition, they are peeled.
Don't go overboard with the accompaniment. Accompaniment is just that: an accompaniment. A very common mistake is to make a garnish so large that it ends up overshadowing the true protagonist: the gazpacho.
Macerated mince. A true "pro" tactic to give more flavor to the picadillo that accompanies the gazpacho is to leave the cut vegetables marinating with a little oil, vinegar and salt for a few hours before serving. It enhances the different flavors and integrates them.