Cold Tomato and Cucumber Gazpacho with Garlic Croutons
- Savory
- Light
- No cook
A chilled, garlicky gazpacho blended from ripe tomatoes, cucumber and sweet peppers, finished with crisp olive oil croutons. Light, bright and refreshing, with no heat at all.
- Total
- 80 min
- Prep 20 · Rest 60
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Balancing with acid · Seasoning in layers
Instructions
-
Roughly chop 800 g tomatoes, the cucumber and the peppers into 3 cm chunks. Peel the 2 garlic cloves.
~10 min
-
Put the chopped vegetables, garlic, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp sherry vinegar, 1 tsp salt and 100 ml water in the blender and blend until completely smooth, about 2 minutes.
~2 min
Blending long enough breaks the vegetables down fully and emulsifies the olive oil into the liquid, giving a silky texture instead of a watery, separated soup.
Seasoning in layers Salt the blend, then re-taste after chilling and adjust again. Seasoning in stages builds depth, while a single late addition can taste flat or harsh.
-
Pour the gazpacho into a large bowl, stir in 0.5 tsp black pepper, cover and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour so the flavors meld and it turns properly cold.
~60 min
Chilling dulls the raw garlic's bite and lets the tomato, cucumber and vinegar flavors blend into one, while the cold temperature makes it refreshing rather than salad-like.
Chilling the soup is what makes it taste like gazpacho rather than a room-temperature salad smoothie, so give it the full hour, or up to overnight.
-
While step 3 rests
While the gazpacho chills, cut 3 slices of bread into 2 cm cubes. Toss the cubes with the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt until evenly coated, then spread on a plate and leave to dry and firm up for 5 minutes.
~5 min
Letting the oiled cubes dry slightly firms the surface so they crisp rather than steam when eaten, and the salt seasons them through.
-
Taste the chilled gazpacho and adjust with a little more salt or sherry vinegar if it needs lift. Ladle into bowls and scatter the olive oil croutons over the top just before serving.
~2 min
Tasting cold soup is essential because chilling mutes both salt and acid, so you need to season it more boldly than you would a warm soup.
If your tomatoes are pale or underripe, a pinch more salt and a splash of sherry vinegar will pull out their sweetness without adding heat.
Balancing with acid Taste cold soup before serving and add vinegar a splash at a time until it tastes bright, not sharp. Cold mutes acidity, so under-seasoning is the common mistake.
Seasoning in layers Salt the blend, then re-taste after chilling and adjust again. Seasoning in stages builds depth, while a single late addition can taste flat or harsh.
