Gazpacho Splendid
By: Emily Heston
Published: Monday, November 30, 2009 - 11:44pm

Ingredients




Soup base (to be marinated):

3 large heirloom tomatoes
3 stalks celery
4 smalls to medium cucumbers
1 small fennel bulb
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
 cup chopped basil
Juice of 2 lemons

4 teaspoons salt
Soup broth:

1 cup strained tomatoes (store bought)
5 cups bottled tomato juice
2 tablespoons pick-a-pepper sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
Juice and zest from a lemon

medium Fresh ground pepper (about 3 turns of the peppermill,  grind)
Garnish:

1 avocado, cubed
5 green onions, thinly sliced
10 basil leaves, chiffonnade
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation

1 Soup base: Roughly chop the tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, fennel and jalapeno and put them in a large bowl.   Add to the vegetables the chopped garlic, basil, lemon juice and salt.   Allow to marinate for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator. 2 Soup broth:  combine ingredients in a pitcher. 3 When ready to serve, use a hand held blender to chop up soup base until it is just slightly chunky.  Add broth to base and stir.  Stir avocado cubes into soup.  Top soup with green onion slices and basil.  Drizzle olive around on the surface of the soup.

About


When the gorgeous large, irregular heirloom tomatoes are piled high in markets, gazpacho must be made!