What to do with all these tomatoes?

My tomato plants are thriving this summer! I decided to use some in the best Gazpacho recipe I have found.

José Andrés is arguably the most famous chef in Washington, DC.  In fact, it’s hard to be in Penn Quarter without walking by one or two of his restaurants. I went to try the gazpacho at Andrés’ Spanish tapas restaurant, Jaleo. Gazpacho is cold soup that originated in the Andalucía region of Spain.

During the summer months, it is a refreshing meal.  As is the style of José Andrés restaurants, the gazpacho involved a presentation at my table. First I was given a bowl of garnish—chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and garlic, and thin slices of crusty bread, drizzled with olive oil. After discussing the ingredients with me, the waiter poured the pureed red gazpacho over the garnish. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Serves

8

Ingredients

• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
• 1/4 cup Oloroso sherry
• 3/4 cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 1 inch-thick slices rustic bread
• 1/4 cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cucumber
• Sea salt to taste

Directions

1	To make the soup, combine the cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, sherry, olive oil and 2 cups of water in a food processor or blender. Puree the ingredients until everything is well blended into a thick pink liquid. Pour the gazpacho through a medium-hole strainer into a pitcher. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
2	For the garnish: Preheat oven to 450˚F. Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes and toss in a mixing bowl with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Spread the bread on a baking sheet and bake on the middle rack until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Set the croutons aside to cool.
3	When you are ready to serve, slice the cucumber into ribbons with a vegetable peeler. Put a few croutons, cherry tomato halves and cucumber ribbons in each bowl and pour the gazpacho over them. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt

Adapted from José Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup