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Summer Gazpacho

Source of Recipe

From "The Red Truck Bakery Farmhouse Cookbook" by Brian Noyes


Recipe Introduction

"During my first two tenures at The Washington Post, food critic Tom Sietsema, then an assistant on the Food desk, was writing a piece about local restaurant secrets and asked if I had a favorite dish for which I'd love to have the recipe. I thought immediately of the gazpacho, full of finely diced vegetables, at a dive on Pennsylvania Avenue near the entrance of Georgetown. It was so good that I waited each summer for it to appear on the menu, and more than once I bugged the chef about how he made it. He didn't share his recipe but rattled off a list of ingredients. Tom, ever dogged, cajoled the secret out of him and included it in that story, and I've made it every summer since. Years later, Dwight and I had a gazpacho in seaside Barcelona that tasted exactly like this recipe, but it had been puréed into a creamy blend, while large chopped servings of vegetables were brought out in little bowls to add as desired. I liked the idea of the larger chunks and revisited my gazpacho project recently, making sure the veggies added bigger texture without becoming a choking hazard. The best success will come at the height of summer, when these fresh ingredients are abundant in a garden or a farmers' market. Please try it first just as I've written before making any substitutions, and cut all the vegetables into a same-size hefty dice; my suggestion is to keep the pieces less petite and more on the chunky side."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 2 medium cucumbers, coarsely diced
â—¦ 2 medium red onions, coarsely diced
â—¦ 2 medium carrots, trimmed, scrubbed well, and coarsely diced
â—¦ 1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and coarsely diced
â—¦ 2 celery stalks, including any leaves, coarsely diced
â—¦ 4 red radishes, trimmed and diced
â—¦ 1 firm but ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced
â—¦ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
â—¦ ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
â—¦ 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
â—¦ ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
â—¦ ¼ cup red wine vinegar
â—¦ 46 ounces canned tomato juice, well shaken
â—¦ 2 teaspoons hot sauce, preferably Tabasco
â—¦ 1 ¼ pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and diced
â—¦ 2 cloves garlic, minced
â—¦ Kosher salt
â—¦ Freshly ground black pepper


Recipe

In a large nonmetallic bowl, combine all but ½ cup of the cucumbers, all but ½ cup of the red onions, all of the carrots, the green bell pepper, celery, radishes, half of the avocado, the parsley, half of the cilantro, the Worcestershire sauce, oil, vinegar, tomato juice, hot sauce, diced tomatoes, and garlic, stirring until well blended. Taste and season with salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours before serving.

Taste the gazpacho again and adjust the seasoning as needed. Ladle it into bowls and garnish them with the reserved cucumber, red onion, avocado, and cilantro or serve the gazpacho in a large serving bowl with the garnishes in side dishes, Barcelona-style. Serve immediately.

Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to one day; any longer and the crisp veggies get mushy.

Serves 8