Garden Gazpacho with Sweet Peppers, Tomato-Cucumber Water, and Crostini
Source: Mark Sullivan, Spruce
Recipe Type: Soups | Seasons: Summer
This recipe was demonstrated for CUESA’s Market to Table program on August 1, 2015.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
½ cup diced red onion
2 lemons, juiced and zested
¾ cup peeled, seeded, and diced red bell pepper
¾ cup peeled, seeded, and diced yellow bell pepper
1 cup peeled, seeded, and diced cucumber (reserve trimmings and juice)
2 cups peeled, seeded, and diced vine-ripened tomatoes (reserve trimmings and juice)
Salt
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup minced parsley
2 tablespoons minced mint leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
Crostini (baguette or other bread sliced thinly, toasted, and rubbed with garlic)
PREPARATION
In a medium-size bowl, macerate the diced red onion with the juice and zest of two lemons. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the bell peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers to the onions. Chill the diced vegetables in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.
Lay a large piece of cheesecloth over the top of a bowl, and scrape the reserved tomato and cucumber trimmings and their residual juices onto the cloth. Sprinkle with salt, tie it up, and hang over the inside of the bowl to allow the juices to drain.
Just before serving, fold the olive oil, parsley, and mint into the tomato-cucumber water.
Spoon the diced vegetables, divided equally, into the center of four bowls. Slowly pour the tomato-cucumber water over the vegetables. Season with pepper to taste and garnish with the crostini.
Variation: Substitute stone fruit for the bell peppers to make a stone fruit gazpacho.
