1medium bulb fennel(trimmed, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces)
1stemmed, seeded, and chopped mild Hatch pepper (or 1 stemmed, seeded and chopped jalapeno)
8large plum tomatoes(cored, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces)
2thin slices slightly dry white bread(crust trimmed, ripped into chunks)
1zucchini(diced small)
1teaspoonred bell pepper(cored, seeded, and diced small)
3cupstomato or vegetable juicesuch as V-8
3tablespoonsextra virgin olive oil(break out the good stuff for this recipe, plus extra for drizzling)
2tablespoonssherry vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Diced avocado and lime wedges to serve(optional)
Instructions
In the bowl of a food processor or in a blender, combine the shallots with the onion, and pulse until finely chopped, but do NOT puree! Turn into a bowl. Place the cucumber, fennel, and hot pepper into the food processor and do the same, then add those to the onion mixture. Then add half of the tomatoes with one slice of the bread, pulse, and turn those into the bowl as well. Finally, pulse the rest of the tomatoes with the remaining slice of bread, add them to the lot, and stir to mix.
Scoop one cup of the vegetable mixture back into the food processor, then add the tomato juice, olive oil, and vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Puree the mixture then add it to the bowl, along with the diced zucchini and bell pepper and stir to mix.
Check the seasonings. Chill the soup for at least three hours, and up to two days (the longer you let sit in the fridge, the more the flavors meld), and serve quite cold. Stir well before serving, adjust the seasonings as needed, and pass the diced avocado and lime wedges on the side if desired. You may also want to give the portions an final drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Notes
Gazpacho will last for 5 days in the fridge.
The order in which the ingredients are pulsed does not matter; just make sure you pulse the minced jalapeño with at least one of the cubed vegetables so it all incorporates nicely. You can pulse the vegetables coarsely or until they are pretty finely ground, and you can add more or less tomato juice as you please — gazpacho is a very personal balance between flavor and texture.
Also, if you want to skip any of the vegetables (other than the tomatoes — that would be silly), that's fine.
The tiny bit of sugar just brings out the natural sweetness of the tomatoes and balances the slight bitterness of some of the other vegetables.
Adding a torn-up slice or two of bread to the mix will thicken the gazpacho and add body. Use a simple white bread so it doesn't interfere with the clean flavors of the vegetables. Use gluten-free bread if gluten is a concern.
If you want your gazpacho to have a chunky texture, don't let the motor run in the food processor. Pulse everything so your veggies get chopped, but you can control the texture. If you like a smooth texture, then yes, let it run!
You can certainly pulse all of the vegetables in the food processor instead of cutting any of them by hand and get a great gazpacho. And you can certainly dice all of the vegetables by hand if you want a more uniform, fancy-looking gazpacho. That takes a lot of time, though, so one compromise (that I love) is to dice one or two of the vegetables, especially vegetables that are easy to neatly dice, such as this zucchini and bell pepper.
As for the tomatoes, to peel or not to peel? This is a question that I usually answer with “nah.” I do make sure to cut out the tough stem and core, then cut the tomatoes into chunks before roughly chopping them in the food processor.
Note that the food processor does not get cleaned out in between vegetables — they all end up in the same bowl!