Ben enjoyed the Gazpacho while we were vacationing in Spain this summer.  Gazpacho is a cold vegetable soup from Spain.  It is best described as liquid salad or ‘salad in the form of soup’.  Gazpacho is a wonderful way to serve summer fresh vegetables.

June and Keiko made this Gazpacho recipe adopted from Elizabeth Shepard.

Ingredients

• 2 cups finely diced plum tomatoes
• 1/2 cup finely diced bell pepper
• 1 cup finely diced cucumber, seeds removed
• 1/3 cup minced red onion
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup finely minced parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 hard boiled egg
• 2 small cloves garlic, finely chopped
• pinch of salt
• 1 46-oz can tomato juice
• 1/2 cup fresh, plain bread crumbs
• Tabasco, to taste

P/S: the Italian bread crumb and the nutmeg are not supposed to be in this photo.

This recipe serves 8.

Instructions

In a large pot, combine all the chopped ingredients (tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, onion and parsley), oregano and black pepper. Squeeze in the lemon juice.

Add tomato juice, beef broth and olive oil to the chopped vegetables in the pot. Season with Worchestershire sauce.

Place egg, garlic and salt in a small bowl, mash with a fork until the mixture forms a paste.  Stir in the egg mixture and breadcrumbs into the soup until they are completely dissolved. Taste to see if it needs more salt for seasoning.  Add Tabasco to taste.  Allow the soup to chill before serving, ideally for at least 4 hours. This soup makes almost 2 quarts.  It is good in the refrigerator for a week.