As I sit here on a gloomy Friday morning here in Atlanta, I think back a few days ago to when the temps were close to 80 during the day. I made my first run for springtime allergy medicine and a new batch of flip flops. I also made my first round of summertime soup.
It's a sure sign of the onset of warmer weather to me when I get the craving for gazpacho. It was a favorite of my mother. As many hearty winter soups as she made when the colder weather was around, it always seemed like spring - and her cooking - blossomed with that first batch of cold soup. Her version, which I've referenced before in my recipes, was a chunkier style based on V-8 and a host of tiny diced produce.
The version I made this week was quite a bit different and certainly could be altered to give it chunkier texture. While fresh tomatoes aren't quite at their peak yet, the farmers market had some lovely yellow tomatoes. To that, I added the usual gazpacho suspects - cucumber, onion, a little zucchini i had around, and cilantro. I keep the seeds in my jalapeno when I make this soup but you can certainly de-seed them if you want. A little whirl of really good quality olive oil at the end helps smooth it out and give it a little added fruitiness. For a neat presentation idea, I've added a parslied salt rim to the glass. You could do this for martini glasses or small shot glasses for a soup course or soup shooters when entertaining.
Also, today is officially the last day for the Souper Soup Challenge. See this post for all of the details. Your soup post does not need to be originally for this challenge - you can submit a link to an older post to be included in the contest. If you get your link to me by the end of the weekend, that'll be ok, too. :)
Yellow Gazpacho - serves 4 full size servings
- 2 pounds yellow tomatoes, cut into quarters
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
- 1 big handful cilantro, tough stems removed
- 1/2 medium red onion, chopped
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 medium zucchini, peeled and chopped
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- Cut tomatoes into quarters - removing stems and top part - and squeeze into food processor to get maximum juice from tomatoes. Rough chop the quarters. Add the chopped tomatoes to the food processor. Add all other ingredients to the food processor except salt and pepper and olive oil. Puree the ingredients to desired consistency.
- Taste test for seasoning and add salt and pepper accordingly. Give the mixture another whirl and add the olive oil at the end for a little bit of added oomph. Combine thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least one hour but this soup tastes better as it it sits so overnight is preferred.
