Roasted Tomato Gazpacho, No Peppers Please!

Gazpacho without peppers? Really? It's the peppers that give gazpacho such a fresh, vibrant taste, isn't it? Without peppers, I thought for sure, that it would be like ........
.............. peas without a pod........ or ........ bees without a buzz......... or .......... trees without a trunk. They all just seem to go together, right?

Well, not necessarily ........ you see, my daughter's visiting this week and I wanted to make something special for her. One of her favorite soups is gazpacho but..... she, sadly, has an allergy to peppers! I took it as a fun challenge to create a flavorful gazpacho ........... without peppers.



To create depth of flavor, I decided to roast some of the tomatoes but to keep it from tasting like marinara, I also added lots of juicy, sweet grape tomatoes along with cucumbers, red onion and garlic. I tinkered and tested adding a bit of this and a splash of that until it seemd just right.

Guess what? I served it to my daughter today ........... she gave it a big thumbs up! Who says gazpacho needs peppers? Now peas and bees and trees ........... well, that's a whole other story ............



Roasted Tomato Gazpacho

Ingredients for roasted tomatoes:
10 medium plum (or Roma) tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for gazpacho:
2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
3 tablesoons white balsamic vinegar
2 medium cucumbers (or 1 large English cucumber), seeded and cut in 2 inch pieces
½ medium red onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup cilantro, packed
½ cup basil leaves, packed
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon cumin
1 ½ teaspoons Sriracha chili sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ cups tomato juice, more as needed
2 limes, juiced
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Directions for the roasted tomatoes:
Cut and seed tomatoes. Toss with the 2 tablespoons olive oil, a generous pinch of sea salt and a few grinds of pepper. Roast at 300 for 2 hours or until juices have been absorbed and tomatoes are a deep rich red. Allow to cool for a least 15 minutes.

Directions for the gazpacho:
Combine all ingredients (including roasted tomatoes) in a food processor and pulse on and off until just slightly chunky. Add tomato juice as needed to make a nice soup consistency. Taste and add sea salt and freshly ground pepper, as needed. Place in a storage container and refrigerate for at least 6-8 hours or longer for flavors to meld.

Enjoy! I like to garnish with a bit of creme fraiche, some sliced avocado and a sprig of basil.

PRINTABLE RECIPE