Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho

Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho is a delicious cold soup that perfectly captures the essence of summer with its vibrant flavors and colors. This dish uses a variety of heirloom tomatoes, known for their exceptional taste and diverse appearance, to create a sweet and tangy base. Crisp cucumbers and sweet red bell peppers add crunch and depth, while garlic introduces a robust layer of flavor. Enhanced with the aromatic freshness of basil and oregano, this gazpacho is a delightful celebration of garden-fresh ingredients, elegantly presented to elevate any meal.

This gazpacho recipe uses heirloom tomatoes, which are known for their outstanding taste and a wide variety of colors and shapes. The tomatoes provide a sweet, tangy, lively, and profoundly satisfying foundation. In addition to the tomatoes, the soup features fresh vegetables, such as crisp cucumbers and sweet red bell peppers, that add a welcome crunch and vibrant color. Garlic adds a pungent depth, enhancing the vegetables’ natural flavors, while fresh basil and oregano introduce a layer of aromatic freshness that perfectly complements the tomatoes.

The gazpacho soup is prepared with red wine vinegar, which adds a tangy flavor to the soup, making the natural brightness of the tomatoes more prominent. Extra virgin olive oil is blended into the mixture, providing a smooth and luxurious texture that makes each spoonful delectable and satisfying. The combination of oil and vinegar enhances the mouthfeel and balances the flavors, ensuring that the soup has a perfectly rounded and harmonious taste.

The garnishes that top off the dish make this gazpacho truly exceptional. A generous dollop of sour cream sits at the center of the bowl, providing a creamy texture and cool tang that offers a delightful contrast to the acidic and herbaceous soup. This addition is not just about flavor—it also introduces a visual and textural contrast, making the dish more appealing and complex. The sour cream melds into the tomato base as it is stirred through, creating swirls of white through the bright red, enhancing the dish’s visual allure.

Adding diced cucumbers to the top of the gazpacho soup provides a refreshing crunch that complements the dish’s main ingredients. This textural element is essential to the sensory experience of the dish, particularly during warm weather. It adds a fresh and light quality to the soup, making it more enjoyable.

The fresh parsley adds the perfect finishing touch to this dish, providing a pop of color and a subtle peppery flavor that complements the existing herbal notes. Parsley’s refreshing quality enhances the deeper flavors of the tomatoes and bell peppers, making the gazpacho even more refreshing and flavorful.

This Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with its curated garnishes is more than just a dish; it’s a celebration of summer’s bounty. It’s served chilled, which is perfect for hot days when appetite might wane under the heat. Each component works in concert to create a dish that is both nourishing and enticing.

This gazpacho is a perfect option for a light lunch, a starter at a dinner party, or a summer feast. It is a great example of how fresh, simple ingredients can be combined to create a visually appealing and intensely flavorful dish.

Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by Kyle Taylor Course: SidesCuisine: MediterraneanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

Total time

1

hour 

15

minutes

Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho is a vibrant and refreshing cold soup featuring juicy heirloom tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, and red bell peppers. It is enhanced with fresh basil, oregano, and a creamy dollop of sour cream, perfect for savoring the lush flavors of summer.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds 2 heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped

• 1 small 1 cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped

• 1 small 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

• 2 cloves of 2 garlic

• 2 tablespoons 2 red wine vinegar

• 1 cup 1 stale bread, cut into cubes and soaked in water

• 1/4 cup 1/4 fresh basil leaves

• 1 tablespoon 1 fresh oregano leaves

• 1/4 cup 1/4 extra virgin olive oil

• to taste, salt and ground black pepper

• for serving, sour cream

• for garnish, freshly chopped parsley

Directions

• Prepare the Vegetables and Bread:
  Combine the chopped heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, and red bell pepper in a large bowl. Roughly tear the basil leaves and strip the oregano leaves from their stems, adding these herbs to the bowl along with the torn stale bread.
• Blend the Soup:
  Transfer all the ingredients from the bowl to a blender, including the garlic, red wine vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. Blend the mixture until it reaches your desired consistency. For a fully integrated flavor, blend until smooth; for more texture, blend less.
• Season:
  Taste and season the gazpacho with salt and ground black pepper. Adjust the seasoning carefully, as the flavors will develop further as the soup chills.
• Chill:
  Pour the gazpacho into a container and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour. This resting period helps the flavors meld and deepen the herbaceous notes.
• Serve:
  After chilling, stir the gazpacho well. Serve cold with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped cucumber, and garnish with freshly chopped parsley.

Notes

• Consider adding a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or a sprinkle of finely chopped basil and oregano over the top before serving for additional flavor and visual appeal.
  

Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho provides an exquisite base for a sophisticated dish when paired with grilled Royal Red shrimp. The sweet and tangy flavors of the gazpacho beautifully complement the rich, lobster-like taste of the Royal Red shrimp, creating a harmonious blend of sea and garden. The smoky and slightly charred notes from the grilled shrimp add a delightful contrast to the excellent, refreshing soup, enhancing the depth of the dish.

Placing the shrimp on top of the gazpacho creates a rich texture and enhances the visual presentation. This combination is perfect for a sophisticated appetizer or a refreshing, light main course. It combines the best flavors from the land and sea, resulting in a distinctive and delicious dining experience that is both fulfilling and visually impressive.