Gazpacho a la Estrella

So in Spain and in Gibraltar and other places where tomatoes grow with wild abandon and abundance, a fave in the summertime is gazpacho.

This is a dish that people practically duel over. Whenever we visit Gib, you mention gazpacho to people and they say (each and every one) ha! you’ve never tasted gazpacho till you’ve tasted mine! usually breathing fire and daring you to disagree. 🙂

It’s not just a national food, people get tetchy about it. Now, I confess, I’ve downed many versions of gazpacho in my day but don’t hold a candle to DH who is practically obsessed with the stuff and will eat any and all versions that are tasty very happily.

I was inspired most, I confess by my dear friend Estrella’s version, which she served one balmy Shabbat afternoon (very very long day in Gibraltar, Shabbat goes out after 10 PM so there’s a great deal of visiting going on, lovely) with her usual flourish, in a fluted glass. I admit, I was gobsmacked. I’d until then mostly eaten the soupy chopped salad version and I gotta admit, I’m a bit tepid on that type. This was a smoothly blended (albeit thickish) vegetable cocktail, icy cold and went down like a dream.

So, why haven’t I been keeping DH in gazpacho heaven ever since? Because you had to peel the tomatoes and although I own a food mill, no just no. I hate the darned thing, a royal pain to clean etc. Then, Estrella made a zoom video and said that since she purchased a high speed blender, it changed her life. No more peeling of those tomatoes. I practically gasped and DH (who watched the show with me) turned to me and said, “buy one!!!” I decided to test drive a Ninja which my youngest Netanel got as a weddding gift (who knew he’s a smoothie nut? His friends did, apparently…). So I borrowed it and lo and behold, it worked! No need to peel the tomatoes, just scrub ’em and done. I did consult with Estrella which one she uses but since that brand doesn’t seem to be on our shores, after much checking, went with a Ninja, right side up kind, which I got on a crazy sale. I promise you, I bought it in my sleep, DH saying “grab it” when I mumbled the price. So I did. Now, he is a happy gazpacho guzzling man. Wasn’t that easy? 😉

On to the prep. This is ridiculously simple once you can plunk it all in the high speed blender. Otherwise, you need to peel the tomatoes, either by dropping for a couple of minutes in boiling water and fishing them out, or apparently with a microwave trick which I cannot swear by since I’ve never done it.

So take some nice ripe tomatoes. They can even be a bit wilted but still good. Take a nice big cucumber or two and peel them, (yes, cukes must be peeled) red pepper, salt, ground pepper, crushed garlic, apple cider vinegar, canola and olive oil. Now Estrella also uses spring onion but in subsequent versions of this I used a slice of regular onion and it’s fine.

Rinse well, peel what you must, and chunk/slice.

Take a slice of bread (as above) pour water over it just till wet and squeeze it all out. Don’t skip this step, it adds to the texture.

Now take your blender and put the whole shebang in together.

This is Netanel’s blender, mine is right side up like normal people use. Now Estrella doesn’t like olive oil in this since she finds it too powerful but I use one tablespoon olive and one canola oil for that happy balance.

Now, whirl it all together and pulverize those suckers till it’s a beautiful melange.

Gorgeous, no? Now you might think you’re done but until you chill it to ice cold-ness, you ain’t. If it’s not really well chilled, don’t serve it, it’s just not the same. I wanted to wait overnight but DH broke down and swigged some after about 4 hours of chilling. He’s still in gazpacho heaven.

As an homage to my girlfriend Estrella, I serve with her flourish in a wine glass or flute and baby, it’s got style. I garnish with two slender peeled stalks of cucumber, cold of course.

Serve anytime, anywhere for any course. It’s delightful and refreshing.

Gazpacho a la Estrella

8 plum/beefsteak tomatoes or any nice ripe juicy type peeled (only if you don’t have a high speed blender)
1-2 medium cucumbers
1 red bell pepper
1 small spring onion or a slice of a regular onion
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 flat teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 slice of bread soaked in water and all the water has to be squeezed out before adding to blender

Directions:

Wash the tomatoes (peel if necessary) and the cucumbers and bell pepper and spring onion or regular onion. Peel cucumbers and onion (and if regular onion, slice a smallish slice) and then chunk all the veggies. Place into blender container all the vegetables, onion, garlic, oils, salt, pepper, cider vinegar and the squeezed out slice of bread. Blend all together on high speed until mostly liquified but still has a slightly thick heft to it. Chill no less than 4 hours and pour into a bowl, a flute, a wine glass or whatever suits your fancy and looks pretty. Serve to the delight of all as a refreshing beverage or a soup.