True Spanish Gazpacho Andalucia Style Recipes

SPANISH GAZPACHO

Steps:

• Combine tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, onion, vinegar, garlic, and salt in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until blended. Pour olive oil in slowly, with the processor running, until gazpacho is smooth. Add small amounts of cold water as needed to achieve desired consistency.
• Serve gazpacho chilled with chopped onion, bell pepper, and cucumber sprinkled over each serving.

AUTHENTIC GAZPACHO RECIPE

Steps:

• Wash and dry all of the vegetables very well-if you prefer to peel the tomatoes you can, although I usually leave the skin on.
• Cut the tomatoes into 4 slices (leaving the core behind) and put into your blender.
• Halve, core, and de-seed the pepper. Cut it into a few slices and add to the blender.
• Peel the garlic and slice it in half. Remove the core (which often results in bitterness when not cooked).
• Cut the onion into a few slices and add it to the blender too.
• Peel the cucumber and cut it in half. Add half to the blender and save the other half for a topping.
• Blend the vegetables at a high speed until it is completely pureed.
• Add the salt and vinegar and, while blending on a slow speed, slowly add the olive oil.
• Taste and adjust salt and vinegar. If the texture is too thick for your liking add some cold water.
• Refrigerate and serve VERY cold! Add as many (or as few) toppings as you like.

REAL SPANISH GAZPACHO FROM SPAIN

Steps:

• Rinse well the tomatoes,take off the stems.
• Peel the garlic clove.
• Peel the onion, chop in 3-4 pieces.
• Rinse the pepper, get rid of any single seed, chop coarsely.
• Peel well the cucumber, no green left.
• Place the piece of bread in a bowl with water in order to soak it. Once soaked, put all water away, squeeze the soaked bread with your bare hands as much as you can and set aside.
• In a good blender or food processor (I have a German marvel called Thermomix) put the tomatoes (previously cut in 4-5 pieces each), the garlic, onion, pepper, cucumber, squeezed bread. Add remaining ingredients and crush all up at the highest speed and power your machine can work. No temperature please! Go on until no minimum little piece of anything can be noticed when you try the gazpacho. It must be creamy and with some consistency, not watery like. Pour it in a jar or bowl and let it chill in your fridge. The chilliest the better. Do not freeze! Serve it in bowls as a first course for any meal.
• Notes:.
• Always try the cucumber before adding it. If it is sour, your gazpacho will be ruined.
• For the best results, use Spanish (from Spain, Europe) olive oil. Italian could suit, but believe me ours is much better, though not so well known.
• Keeps well in fridge for a week, guess it won't last you a day, so good it is!

CLASSIC ANDALUSIAN GAZPACHO

Steps:

• Soak bread in 1/2 cup water 1 minute, then squeeze dry, discarding soaking water.
• Mash garlic to a paste with salt using a mortar and pestle (or mince and mash with a large knife). Blend garlic paste, bread, 2 tablespoons vinegar, sugar, cumin, and half of tomatoes in a food processor until tomatoes are very finely chopped. Add remaining tomatoes with motor running and, when very finely chopped, gradually add oil in a slow stream, blending until as smooth as possible, about 1 minute.
• Force soup through a sieve into a bowl, pressing firmly on solids. Discard solids.
• Transfer to a glass container and chill, covered, until cold, about 3 hours. Season with salt and vinegar before serving.

TRUE SPANISH GAZPACHO, ANDALUCIA STYLE

Steps:

• Soak the bread slices. Place in a bowl with water to cover, adding a little salt and oil. Reserve.
• Peel and chop tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, onion and garlic. Remove the seeds from the peppers. Mix all ingredients.
• In electric mixer, place the mixture of ingredients (in a batch or batches), add a little water and blend until creamy. Add the bread with water, vinegar and beat again until everything is well crushed and emulsified.
• Add cold water and mix well. Taste for salt, oil and vinegar.
• Put the gazpacho through a food mill to remove skin from peppers and tomato seeds. By having blended with the skin, (it is very difficult to peel them raw, without taking half of the pepper), it floats on the soup and is very unpleasant to the palate.
• Add more water if necessary, it must have the texture of heavy cream. Place in the refrigerator to get the desired temperature and when ready to serve sprinkle with a dash of extra virgin olive oil, mixing with a wooden spoon.
• Serve with a garnish of diced raw cucumber, cubes of bread (plain or toasted), diced pepper and chopped onion. You can add chopped tomato, chopped hard boiled egg or diced jamon serrano if you would like. Each item should be in a separate dish so that diners can use them to their liking. This is called "guarnición".
• SPANISH VERSION: GAZPACHO. 6 tomates maduros grandes y carnosos, 2 pimientos verde, 1 pimiento rojo, 1 pepino, 1 corazón de cebolla grande, 1 diente de ajo (opcional), 2 rebanadas de pan del día anterior sin la corteza, sal, aceite de oliva virgen extra, vinagre
• Preparación: Poner a remojo las rebanadas de pan. Se colocan en un cuenco con agua hasta cubrirlas, añadiéndoles un poco de sal y aceite. Se reservan. Pelar y trocear los tomates, los pimientos, el pepino, la cebolla y el ajo. A los pimientos se les quita las semillas. Mezcle todos los ingredientes. En la batidora eléctrica, coloque la mezcla de ingredientes (en una tanda o en varias tandas), añada un poco de agua y triture hasta conseguir una crema. Se añade el pan con el agua, el vinagre y se bate nuevamente hasta conseguir que todo esté bien triturado y emulsionado.
• Añadir agua fría y mezclar bien. Comprobar el punto de sal y vinagre. Pasarlo por un colador chino o un pasapurés, para eliminar la piel de pimiento. Al haberlos triturado con piel, (es muy difícil pelarlos en crudo, sin llevarse la mitad del pimiento), ésta queda flotando y es muy desagradable al paladar. Añadir más agua si fuera necesario, tiene que quedar una textura de crema líquida. Introducirlo en la nevera hasta conseguir la temperatura deseada y en el momento de servir rociar con un chorrito de aceite de oliva virgen extra, que mezclaremos con una cuchara de madera. Se sirve con una guarnición de pepino crudo cortado en dados, cuadraditos de pan (normal o tostado), pimiento cortado en cuadraditos y cebolla picada. Cada elemento en un platito aparte para que los comensales puedan servirse a su gusto.