Features of the preparation of traditional Spanish soup. TOP 6 gazpacho recipes. Video recipes.
Gazpacho is a traditional Spanish soup that belongs to a number of vegetarian dishes, as it usually contains no meat at all. To prepare gazpacho, fresh grated vegetables, previously peeled from the skin, are used.
Features of cooking gazpacho
The dish is prepared with ripe vegetables. The basis of the classic gazpacho soup is tomatoes, which are peeled and finely chopped or whipped in a blender, depending on the consistency of the soup. Bell peppers, carrots, onions and garlic are also added to gazpacho.
There are many recipes for making gazpacho soup. You can even choose a recipe for yourself based on the color of the dish. The classic gazpacho, thanks to ripe tomatoes, turns out to be a rich red color. For the preparation of green soup, cucumber, green bell peppers, herbs and other green vegetables are used. Gazpacho can also be yellow. In this case, yellow tomatoes and peppers, pumpkin and carrots are added to it. Sometimes even a melon is used for cooking.
Gazpacho tomato soup must be seasoned with olive oil, as well as various types of spices. You can also add a little vinegar to it.
Note! Some ingredients are served separately with the soup, in portions. These are ham or bacon, finely chopped eggs, bread croutons, nuts, seeds, and grapes.
Gazpacho also comes in a variety of consistencies, ranging from a thick soup to a liquid cocktail. In Spain, it is considered more of a drink than a first course. Even for serving it instead of deep plates, bowls or special glasses are sometimes used. Therefore, the peculiarity of this dish is that it can sometimes be served as a cocktail. You can add alcohol to it.
Sweet gazpachos are gaining more and more popularity. For their preparation, ripe berries and fruits are used. They are also whipped in a blender or ground until smooth. Top them can be decorated with mint, nuts or chocolate.
Secrets of cooking gazpacho soup:
- This is a seasonal soup. It is cooked in summer not only because it is usually served cold. This dish is based on tomatoes. They should be ripe and juicy. And, as you know, the most ripe and juicy tomatoes hit our shelves in the summer.
- Gazpacho does not have to be a uniform consistency. Some vegetables can be chopped to a puree consistency, and some can be cut into small pieces. It will be even tastier this way.
- Spices and spices in this case are added in several stages. Immediately after cooking and after the soup is well infused, as during the day the aroma and taste of the spices will be somewhat muted.
- Sprinkle the soup with fresh herbs and white bread croutons. This must be done just before serving, so that they remain crispy and do not have time to completely soak.
TOP 6 gazpacho recipes
Gazpacho soup is served exclusively cold. To do this, it must be placed in the refrigerator for at least a day. During this time, the soup will cool down well, and all the ingredients will mix well, and the real taste of the dish will reveal itself. We present to your attention the TOP-6 gazpacho recipes.
Classic gazpacho soup
Tomatoes are the basis of the classic gazpacho soup. It is best to use ripe and juicy enough varieties. They must be peeled off to avoid excess bitterness in the soup. As for the rest of the vegetables, they are used raw to prepare this soup; you should not boil them first. Everyone will definitely like this soup, since in its classic form it is completely vegetarian. Meat can be served separately in portions.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 125 kcal.
- Servings - 4
- Cooking time - 1 hour
Ingredients:
- Tomatoes - 300 g
- Bulb onions - 1 pc.
- Red bell pepper - 1 pc.
- Cucumber -1 pc.
- Tomato juice - 2 tbsp
- Wine vinegar - 2 tablespoons
- Olive oil - 1.5 tablespoons
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Ground black pepper - 2 tablespoons
- Provencal herbs to taste
- White bread croutons - for decoration
How to prepare classic gazpacho step by step:
- Peel the tomatoes. To do this, they need to be placed in a deep bowl and poured with boiling water and skinned. Or you can boil them for a couple of minutes - this will also make it easier to remove the skin. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces and place in a blender bowl. The peel can be left on if it is thin. In this case, the blender will be able to grind it at a high enough speed.
- We wash the red pepper well. Peel and cut into strips. We spread it to the tomatoes.
- Cut the onion into small pieces and add to the blender.
- The cucumber must be peeled to avoid excess bitterness. Chop and place in a bowl with the rest of the vegetables.
- Beat everything until puree, then pour into a medium-sized saucepan. Add 2 cups tomato juice and mix well. Salt and pepper.
- Allow the soup to cool, then refrigerate for at least half a day. It should soak well.
- After the time has elapsed, we take out the soup from the refrigerator. Season with olive oil. Salt and pepper again, add Provencal herbs. Mix well. Pour into deep bowls. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and white bread croutons before serving.
Green gazpacho with shrimps
Green shrimp gazpacho looks more like a light refreshing drink than a classic soup. The green puree mixture is pre-cooled and then poured into tall glasses. Decorate the side with shrimps. This drink perfectly quenches thirst in hot weather and at the same time is quite satisfying and low-calorie.
Ingredients:
- Cucumber - 3 pcs.
- Green bell pepper - 1 pc.
- Celery - 2 stalks
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Olive oil - 1 tablespoon
- Shrimps - 150 g
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper - to taste
How to prepare green shrimp gazpacho step by step:
- The cucumbers must be peeled. You can use a vegetable peeler for this. Then cut them into small pieces.
- Rinse sweet peppers well and peel them. Cut into strips.
- Put the prepared vegetables in a blender bowl. Grate the garlic on a fine grater or pass through a press and add there. Finely chop the celery stalks and place in a bowl. Salt and pepper everything well.
- Beat everything until smooth. Pour into a deep bowl and refrigerate. The green gazpacho should brew well. It will take at least 2-3 hours.
- At this time, boil the shrimp in well salted water. In order to give them additional taste and aroma, you can add a couple of bay leaves and black peppercorns to the water.
- When the gazpacho is well infused and cooled, we take it out of the refrigerator. Then we pour it into tall glasses.
- You can add some ice cubes to such a drink. If it seems very thick to you, you can dilute it a little with cold water. Decorate with shrimps before serving.
Gazpacho with mango and avocado
Another unusual recipe for gazpacho soup. Thanks to the color scheme of the ingredients, it turns out to be a rich yellow hue. As for the consistency, in this case it should not be uniform. The combination of very unusual products for the soup will give it a special flavor and will pleasantly surprise your loved ones.
Ingredients:
- Sweet yellow pepper - 400 g
- Tomatoes - 230 g
- Cucumbers - 120 g
- Mango - 150 g
- Avocado - 150 g
- Ginger root - 20 g
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Wine vinegar - 10 ml
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Fresh parsley - for garnish
- Seeds - for decoration
How to prepare gazpacho with mango and avocado step by step:
- First you need to peel the mango and avocado. Then cut into small pieces and beat in a blender bowl. In consistency, it should turn out to be homogeneous, like mashed potatoes. You can also use ready-made mashed potatoes from these fruits to make yellow gazpacho. Pour it into a deep bowl.
- We wash the sweet peppers well and remove the seeds. Cut into strips. Put part of the pepper in a blender bowl, leave 1/4 on the work surface. We also wash the tomatoes, remove the skin from them and chop finely. We put some in a blender bowl for pepper, and leave 1/4 on the work surface.
- Peel the cucumbers with a vegetable peeler, chop finely and put them in a bowl with vegetables.
- Pass the garlic through a press, rub the ginger root on a fine grater. We also add all this to the blender bowl and beat until smooth.
- Pour the resulting mixture into a bowl to the fruit puree. Add salt and pepper. Mix everything well and add a little white wine vinegar.
- Add the vegetables that have remained chopped to the same container. Leave the gazpacho in the refrigerator for at least 5-6 hours. During this time, the soup should soak well.
- After the time has elapsed, pour the soup into deep bowls, so that in each, in addition to mashed potatoes, there are pieces of vegetables. Sprinkle with fresh parsley on top. Decorate with seeds and serve.
Gazpacho with crab meat
Gazpacho with crab meat is a very sophisticated dish. Its peculiarity is considered to be a spicy-sweet aftertaste, which is achieved thanks to an unusual combination of ingredients. The base in this case is a classic tomato, but in addition to salt, sugar is also added to it. The soup is also seasoned with Tabasco hot sauce. All this goes well with the most tender crab meat.
Ingredients:
- Tomatoes - 300 g
- Cucumbers - 100 g
- Red bell pepper - 100 g
- Wine vinegar - 1 tablespoon
- Crab meat - 150 g
- Tabasco sauce - 1.5 tbsp
- Sugar - 2 tablespoons
- Salt - 1 tsp
How to prepare gazpacho with crab meat step by step:
- First you need to rinse the tomatoes well and peel them off. To do this, pour boiling water over them, after which the skin will be removed quite easily. Cut into small pieces and place in a blender bowl.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of salt and beat until smooth. Pour the tomato mixture into a separate deep bowl.
- Peel the red bell pepper and cut into strips.
- Peel the cucumbers and cut into small cubes. Put all this in a blender bowl and beat until smooth. Pour into a bowl for the tomatoes.
- Add tabasco sauce, wine vinegar and mix well.
- Boil the crab meat until tender and transfer to a bowl for the soup. Place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
- Remove from the refrigerator after the time has elapsed. Before serving, the soup needs a little more salt. Pour in portions, so that there are several pieces of crab meat in each plate, and can be served.
Royal soup gazpacho
Royal gazpacho is an incredibly tasty, special dish that is not so common. It is also often called white gazpacho. This is one of the few options for making a salty soup that does not use tomatoes and bell peppers at all. The basis in this case is almonds. White gazpacho can also be served like a regular soup, for this, before serving it must be filtered through a sieve, it will turn out like a liquid gruel. Or it can be served as a cocktail, pouring into tall glasses - in this case, you should not pass it through a sieve. Small pieces of almonds will give your cocktail a special flavor.
Ingredients:
- Almonds - 110 g
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Salt - 1 tsp
- White bread - 4 slices
- Olive oil - 100 ml
- Wine vinegar - 50 ml
- Water - 1 l
- Grapes - for decoration
How to prepare royal gazpacho step by step:
- Pieces of bread must be peeled off the crust. Put in a deep bowl and cover with cold water.
- Meanwhile, use a food processor to beat the almonds and garlic.
- Squeeze out excess liquid from the bread and add it to a food processor. Beat everything together again, until a pasty consistency is formed. Pour everything into a deep bowl.
- Continue stirring with a wooden spoon. In this case, in a thin stream, it is necessary to immediately pour in wine vinegar, and then olive oil. Add salt.
- Next, add 200 ml of ice water. Mix well. Then add another 800 ml of cold water. Stir well again. If you want your soup to be even thinner, you can add some more cold water.
- Pour gazpacho in portions. In this case, it can be served immediately after preparation. He does not need to insist. Garnish with grapes before serving.
Cherry gazpacho
As you know, gazpacho can be prepared not only from vegetables. You can also use berries and fruits for its preparation. Cherry gazpacho is a thick, refreshing soup that combines, at first glance, ingredients uncharacteristic for it. A little fruit syrup is added to this soup. Due to this, it has a sweetish flavor.
Ingredients:
- Tomatoes - 60 g
- Cucumbers - 30 g
- Cherries - 100 g
- Chili pepper - 2 pcs.
- Olive oil - 1 tsp
- Cherry syrup - 2 tsp
- Water - 100 ml
- Shrimps - 100 g
- Salt to taste
- Fresh herbs - for decoration
Step by step preparation of cherry gazpacho:
- Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and peel them off. Cut into small pieces. Peel the cucumbers with a peeler, cut into cubes. Rinse the chili peppers well and remove the seeds. Peel the cherries. Put all this in a blender bowl and beat until smooth.
- Boil the shrimp in well salted water until tender. Add a couple of black peppercorns to the water. This will give them additional flavor and aroma. When ready, they must be cleaned.
- Add salt and cherry syrup to the blender bowl. Beat for a couple more minutes. Next, the liquid mixture must be filtered through a sieve.
- Pour the ready-made gazpacho in portions. Add a few pieces of shrimp to each plate in portions. Top with fresh herbs and serve.
