Recipe #224: Gazpacho Soup

I was scrolling through the Facebook newsfeed the other day and stopped dead in my scrolly-tracks when I saw this recipe posted by Bizarre Foods, the TV show hosted by Andrew Zimmern.  The picture was gorgeous and it reminded me of the day we tried gazpacho soup in Spanish class in highschool, and I had loved it then, long before I learned to cook.  This involves NO cooking though, just chopping and blending- you can't go wrong!  It makes a LOT (more than half of a very large pot) and is so fresh tasting.  The only changes I made were to leave the skins ON the cucumbers and tomatoes for more nutrition....and also because I was being lazy.  I added some hot sauce to mine too once I started eating it for a little kick.

INGREDIENTS:

• 7 medium tomatoes (about 3 pounds), peeled and seeded
• 2 cucumbers (about 1 pound)—peeled, halved, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus whole leaves for garnish
• 6 basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1  1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco
• One 46-ounce jar tomato juice
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Finely chopped yellow bell pepper and snipped chives, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, toss the tomatoes with the cucumbers, green bell pepper, onion, garlic, chopped parsley, fresh basil, dried basil, oregano, olive oil, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and Tabasco.

In a blender, puree the mixture in batches until nearly smooth. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the tomato juice and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate the gazpacho for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Season the soup again if necessary and transfer to bowls. Garnish with yellow bell pepper, chives and parsley leaves and serve.

MAKE AHEAD The gazpacho can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.