Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Spicy Gazpacho

It's that time of year when a big bowl of cold soup sounds great on a hot day. I would often make the original Gazpacho soup full of tomatoes, cucumbers and onions and - even though it's tasty, it just doesn't have the wow factor that it use to have. Until I came across the Spicy Gazpacho. Talk about WOW! This is a cold soup with some serious heat! If it's too hot for you, just add a dollop of sour cream and your good to go.

Spicy Gazpacho

4-5 large tomatoes, cut up and diced
2 can(s) diced tomatoes (14 oz)
1 large diced cucumber
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 medium jalapeno pepper, cleaned and diced
1 medium red onion, diced
2 clove garlic, minced
1 32 oz. bottle V-8 (spicy, or any variety), or tomato juice
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar or sherry or wine vinegar
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder

Put the ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Place 1/2 the mixture in a blender and pulse until roughly chopped but not pureed. Do the same for the second half or if you like chunky, leave it and mix together with the blended mixture.
Place in the refrigerator for at least half an hour to chill before serving.
Top with you favorite topping and serve with grilled bread or croutons if preferred. Enjoy!

I only used one can of diced tomatoes - the Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Green Chili, and only half a bottle of Spicy V-8. I also think it's too much onion for the soup - next time I'm only using half an onion. I do recommend chilling the soup overnight, it gives it a full richer flavor.

(Original recipe:
http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/soup/vegetable-soup/spicy-gazpacho.html)