Gazpacho

When I think of gazpacho, I think of chilled soup showcasing the freshest summer tomatoes and cucumbers. This soup is thin, refreshing, and studded with chunks of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and onions.

That's not exactly what I received when I sat down to dinner with some friends, the cook a native Spaniard, and an excellent cook at that.

The soup was chilled and did featured summer-sweet cucumber and tomatoes, but there were no chunks of vegetables. Exclaiming that I've never had gazpacho without chunks, my friend goes on to say that they don't put chunks of vegetables in gazpacho in Spain. Or at least where he's from.
Always my go-to guy to hear rants and raves about how Americans bastardize Spanish foods, he goes on to tell me that Americans also load up gazpacho with garlic, which in a no-no in Spain. Or at least where he's from.

Instead the Spanish use onions. But be careful, he warns. American onions are much stronger than the onions in Spain, so be sure to use red or sweet onions and reduce the amount called for.

And as I sat dunking hunks of crusty bread into the vibrant and refreshing, smooth gazpacho, even as a garlic-lover, I couldn't imagine that garlic would improve in any way on what he had made.

And, so, I went home to make my own gazpacho using his advice. The addition of smoked chipotle powder is my own touch, and certainly not authentic. In the end, I did add diced cucumbers, sweet red peppers, and onions to the finished gazpacho as a garnish, because I just like a little crunch in my gazpacho.
Gazpacho
serves 8-10

3-inch-long piece of baguette, cut into 1-inch cubes
10-15 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 medium cucumbers, peeled and coarsely chopped, plus 1/2 cucumber finely diced for garnish
1/4 small red or sweet onion, plus 1/4 onion finely diced for garnish
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon smoked chipotle powder
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 red pepper, finely diced for garnish

• Place bread in a small bowl, and squeeze juice from enough tomatoes over top of bread until bread is thoroughly wet with a small pool of tomato juice sitting in the bottom of the bowl. Transfer bread and tomato juice to a blender and blend until smooth.
• To the pureed bread, add tomatoes, cucumber, onions, salt, paprika, smoked chipotle powder, and sherry vinegar and blend until smooth. The blending will have to be done in batches since not all of the vegetables will fit in the blender, so dump blended batches into a large bowl or pot as you go.
• Strain blended vegetables through a small-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing on sides to push liquid through. Discard solids.
• Working in batches again in the blender, slowly drizzle olive oil (divided among batches) into the top of the blender, while the blender is running, until incorporated.
  
• Transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
  
• Garnish individual bowls of soup with diced cucumbers, onion, and red pepper before serving.