Meat-free Friday Recipe: Gazpacho

This recipe is not one of mine, but comes from a dear old friend. I first met Joe when we were both on exchange learning French way back in 2009, and we may have shared a home cooked meal or two (or several) in our dorm kitchens. Since then, we’ve both expanded our culinary vocabularies (as well as our French vocabularies!), and I am glad we have remained in touch. This delightful summery recipe comes courtesy of him and his two cats, Bilby and Bunny, perfect for this summer heat, and in his honour, I am renaming this particular iteration the GazpaJoe.

Ingredients : 

• Peppers (red, yellow, green, and chili. Feel free to select types of peppers according to taste, but no hotter than poblano.)
• 2-4 tomatoes cut into 6 pieces and dried with a towel.
• Large can of cento San Marzano peeled tomatoes (drained and cut)
• 1-2 diced cucumbers, seeds apart
• Stale bread, cut into small pieces, ideally French baguette or Italian loaf type
• 1-3 cloves garlic (to personal preference)
• Onions or Leek, roughly chopped
• ½ cup basil, chopped and additional basil leaves for garnish
• 1-2 cups olive oil (or avocado oil)
• Mint for garnish (optional)
• Salt, pepper (ideally lava salt & fresh coarse ground pepper)
• Balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar

Tools : 

• Large bowl (or whatever large container you have) 
• Chef’s knife
• Food processor (or blender) 

Method :

1. Cut the peppers and place into your large bowl
2. Add tomatoes. Dry off San Marzano peeled tomatoes and add to the container. The different types of tomatoes have different flavours: San Marzano is sweeter while Traditional tomatoes are more acidic and fresh. You can play with balance by using more of one type over another to get the taste you want. Add cucumbers, bread, garlic, onion, and basil to container.
3. Give the ingredients an olive oil bath (feel free to mix Extra virgin olive oil with avocado oil to save money). Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add a touch of vinegar. Refrigerate.
4. Crush/press the ingredients down while in the fridge & container. Marinate for at least 30 minutes but ideally 12 hours. 
5. Put everything into a food processor, squeeze in some lemon juice, and blend until smooth. Add olive oil if needed. For a runnier consistency, add a little water or vegetable stock.
6. Serve in a bowl. Top with fresh basil/mint, and a bit of black sea salt and finish with a lick of olive oil on top to give it a glossy look. 

Goes great with a warm and crusty (and cheesy, if you’re into that) garlic bread! Alternatively, you can skip the food processing step and serve the mix as a salad with the protein of your choice (likely fish on a Fish Friday).

Did you give this a go? What did you think of it? Do you have any friendships that have managed to survive impossible circumstances? Let’s talk about how these long-standing friendships that defy the odds are such blessings! Oh, and about the gazpacho, remember to leave a comment to let me know if you made any changes to this and how you liked it!

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!