Gazpacho with Avocado-Corn Relish

Refreshingly cold, gazpacho is a quintessential summer soup, packed with great flavors and health boosting ingredients. This dish was part of our Alfresco Dinner with friends in the Hampton’s. There is a nice kick of spiciness to it but where avocado adds creaminess and and sautéed corn adds a touch of sweetness, creating a delicious balance to the otherwise spicy soup. Make sure you use the best ingredients possible- local, ripe organically grown tomatoes. Heirloom and wine tomatoes are in peak of the season now, those are the best in this recipe. Blanch them quickly in boiling water to peel off the skins. By adding chopped country bread to the mix, you play with soup’s texture. Bread gives it more body and depth of flavor. Your gazpacho will vary from mine, depending on the tomatoes and bread you used. Freshly grated horseradish and the mildness of red Aleppo peppers add a nice piquant taste to it. I used my Vitamix on puree setting to blend the soup to a smooth perfection. Depending on the size of your blender, you might have to do it in two batches. Play with texture, try keeping it chunkier by simply blending it for only a minute or two. Chill the soup thoroughly, for at least few hours. Serve it with a spoon full of avocado-corn relish, chopped parley and drizzled with good-quality extra-virgin olive oil, seasoned with fishing salt and pepper on top.

Ingredients: tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, bread, garlic, lemon, parsley, avocado, corn, horseradish, sherry vinegar, good quality extra-virgin olive oil, salt, Aleppo peppers.

Roast bell peppers: Preheat your broiler with rack positioned in the middle of the oven. Drizzle oil over bell peppers lightly, season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Place bell peppers on the baking sheet and roast for 20 to 25 minutes depending on their size, turning occasionally with the tongs to make all sides equally charred.

Once charred, transfer peppers into a large metal or glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap, foil or a plate. The steam will help to release the skin easily in 10-15 minutes. Peel the skin off with your fingers and cut the bell peppers into two pieces. Remove the core and seeds and set bell peppers aside. Kitchen tip: Alternatively, to save time, use jarred roasted bell peppers, rinsed and drained.

Blanch tomatoes: Using a sharp knife, cut an “X” on the bottom of each tomato, it will help to loosen the skin.

Place them in rapidly boiling water for 1 minute, and then plunge the tomatoes into an ice bath.

Let them cool slightly, peel the skin off.

Slice tomatoes in half and cut out the white divot.

Then cut tomatoes into bite size pieces. and place them into the blender. Add cucumber, bell peppers, garlic, bread, lemon juice, sherry vinegar, horseradish, olive oil and season to taste. Set on puree setting and process until smooth.

Scoop seeds out of cucumber.

Cut cucumber into chunky pieces.

Remove the crust from the bread, then cut into small cubes.

You will need approximately 1 cup of bread cubes.

Add all the ingredients into food processor, then add sherry vinegar and horseradish.

Then add minced garlic.

Drizzle in good quality extra-virgin olive oil on top.

Squeeze some lemon.

Process until smooth.

Finely chop flat-leaf parsley.

Pour soup into tureen and chill the soup thoroughly, for at least 2 hours.

Make avocado-corn relish: Cut avocado in half, remove the pit. Slice avocado in crisscross pattern and scoop the flash out into a small bowl, add sautéed corn. Drizzle with olive oil slightly; squeeze 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix to combine.

To serve, ladle gazpacho into each soup bowl and garnish with avocado-corn relish. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and season with pepper. Sprinkle some chives or parsley on top.

Bon Appétit!

Svitlana

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