My new and improved gazpacho recipe!
Last week the Pick n Pay in my area was having a huge sale on tomatoes. So I didn’t have very far to go to decide that I needed to make gazpacho. I had a few new ideas I wanted to try out with my old faithful recipe and I think they worked out really well.
The changes I made were substituting nuts for the traditional bread base and I added white wine vinegar and basil to the seasoning which I haven’t done in the past. The end result has a lovely creamy full bodied texture and taste which I really like.
Since summer is drawing to a close, I think that enjoying some truly summery dishes is an absolute must!
Gazpacho
Makes about 3 litres
1 cup of macadamia nuts (or nuts of choice)
½ cup of olive oil
1 litre of veg stock or water (more if needed)
1kg ripe tomatoes
1 cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 red pepper, seeded
1 large clove of garlic
½ a small red onion
2 Tbsp honey, agave nectar or brown sugar
1 tsp of lemon zest, finely grated
1 Tbsp of lemon juice
2 Tbsp of white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp of fresh sweet basil (optional)
fresh chilli (if desired)
¼ tsp of cumin
2 tsp of salt (or to taste)
black pepper to taste
Blend the nuts and oil until they form a fine paste. Add all the other ingredients and blend until you reach the desired consistency. Check the seasoning. Refrigerate and serve chilled.
For a colourful and crunchy finish serve with croutons and some of the ingredients like cucumber and peppers diced up.
