Gazpacho--Barefoot Bloggers

Our final Barefoot Bloggers recipe for June is Gazpacho, selected by Meryl of My Bit of Earth. I am a Gazpacho fan and have made several different recipes for this cold Spanish soup, but had never tried Ina's recipe so I was happy to get the opportunity to make it. Another bonus is that there was no butter to cut out, a semi-rare thing in an Ina recipe. Although this is generally a pretty healthy recipe, I did find two things to cut down on; olive oil and salt and I reduced both, (the amounts I used are in red below and are for a half batch of the soup--which still in Ina fashion, makes a pretty large amount). In The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, Ina recommends a particular brand of tomato juice called Sacramento Tomato Juice and since I didn't see it at either of the two stores I went to, I went with the on-sale V-8 Vegetable Juice, (the low sodium version because you can always add a bit of salt to taste and you don't get the massive amounts of sodium that are in the regular version), which worked perfectly. Finally, there is just something about gazpacho that calls out for shrimp, so I served mine in a margarita glass topped with fresh parsley and basil and hooked some of the plump pink beauties on the rim--perfect for a summer party.  

In addition to The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, this recipe is also at the Food Network site here.

Gazpacho

The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten

(Makes 4-6 Servings)

1 hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
4 plum tomatoes
1 red onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups) (I used low-sodium V-8)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup good olive oil (I used about 1 Tbsp for a half batch)
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt (I used a very small pinch for a half batch)
1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper (I used the full teaspoon for a half batch)

Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!

After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.

Notes/Results: As usual Ina's recipe is great; simple and very flavorful and so good on a hot day or night. Cutting the oil and salt still resulted in a delicious soup--in fact I think even using the low sodium vegetable juice, if I had used Ina's amount of salt it would have been too much. The sweetness of the shrimp is perfect with the savory soup and helps round it out, making it feel more like a meal. The keys to a good gazpacho are great, fresh vegetables, (says the girl who used the on-sale V-8!) and letting it set in the fridge overnight to get nice and cold. When I have made or been served less than stellar gazpacho, it usually relates back to these two things. The fresher and sweeter your veggies, the better your soup, and letting it sit for 12-24 hours allows the flavors to mature and meld together. I also like to get my onion pretty fine, while keeping the other veggies chunkier. There is no worse gazpacho buzzkill in my book than biting into a big old hunk of onion, so I give them a few extra pulses which also makes for a thicker broth. Although I made just a half batch of this recipe, I had enough for a couple of glasses and the rest is going to accompany me to a small tapas party tonight where it will be served in small juice glasses with a shrimp hung over the side of each one as "Gazpacho Shots." 

This was a really great pick--thanks Meryl! You can find out more details on the Barefoot Bloggers as well as see what the other BBs thought of this recipe by going to the site here.