Grilled Gazpacho
Gazpacho is a quintessential summer soup because all of the ingredients are in season and so delicious this time of year. Traditionally gazpacho is made of completely raw vegetables, but to take this classic summer dish up a notch (or two), I decided to grill most of the veggies, which adds a subtle smoky dimension to the soup.
To get this recipe just right, the trick is to use a really hot grill to quickly brown the outside of the vegetables while leaving the inside raw. This creates a delicious smoky flavor and keeps all the summer flavors of the veggies fresh. It’s so delicious! After charring your veggies on the grill, you simply chop everything up, and the food processor does the rest of the work.
This recipe also only requires the grill, so there’s zero need to heat up the house by turning on the stove on a hot summer day. This grilled gazpacho is seriously the perfect recipe for those lazy summer days!
This recipe can also be made ahead and stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.
- Olive oil
- 1.5 red bell peppers (about 2 cups)
- 5 medium tomatoes, halved (about 4 cups)
- 1 red onion, halved and peeled
- 1 jalapeno pepper
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 3 cups mini seedless cucumbers, (about 3 cucumbers)
- 3 cups tomato juice
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 bunch fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- French bread, sliced for garnish
- Basil leaves, julienned for garnish
- Preheat the grill to high heat.
- Toss the peppers, tomatoes, red onion, jalepeno and garlic cloves in olive oil.
- Transfer the vegetables to the hot grill. Grill on each side until dark brown on the outside but still raw on the inside. Remove from the grill and allow to cool.
- While the vegetables are cooling place the slices of bread on the grill until toasted.
- Remove the seeds and core from the red and jalapeno peppers. Roughly chop all the grilled vegetables and the cucumbers. Place each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse until coarsely chopped, or until it reaches your desired consistency.
- After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, basil and cumin. Mix well and chill before serving.
- Top each bowl with the grilled bread and more basil.
