Gazpacho from Andalusia

What to eat when outside is hot and it will be hotter. In my opinion the best food for summer is gazpacho. It is usually tomato based soup with different vegetables. It comes from Andalusia and you  have to serve it cold or with ice cubes. It is very popular in Spain and Portugal.

  Gazpacho from Andalusia

Andalusian dish is served from a long times. Ancient Romans and Moors also prepared it during the summer. They used tomato, garlic, vinegar, olive oil and stale bread.
Nowadays are many varieties of gazpacho with seafood, grapes, watermelon, avocados which do not contain typical ingredients.

Gazpacho Andaluz recipe:

• 1 Kilo tomatoes (preferable plum tomatoes)
• 1/2 small onion (60 grams)
• 1 small green pepper
• 1 small cucumber (the small chubby Spanish type)
• 1 small cup of olive oil
• 2 desert spoons of vinegar
• 200 grams of bread from the day before, soaked in water
• Small portions of diced tomatoes, red and green peppers, cucumber, onion and bread or croutons to sprinkle on top.

1. Put the tomatoes, onion, pepper, cucumber, vinegar, oil and bread into a liquidizer. If you want to dilute it, add a glass of water. Tip: if you want to go for a tangy garlic taste, add a small amount of fresh garlic to the mixture before liquidizing.

2. Put the mixture into a bowl, add salt and pepper and leave the gazpacho to chill for at least an hour. If you want to eat it straight away, you can put some ice cubes in to cool it down. Gazpacho is a Summer dish which is meant to hydrate and cool down your body. So the colder the better!!

3. Serve the gazpacho in soup bowls, with the portions of diced tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion, croutons etc on the table, so that everyone can add them to their bowl as they prefer. Tip: you can also sprinkle diced serrano ham or hard boiled egg.

                                                   ¡Buen provecho!