Gazpacho is such a summertime dish. Sweet and slightly sour (that will be the tomatoes, cider vinegar, citrus juices and softened dates), mellow spicing (chilli, cumin, coriander, parsley) and just an overall delicious mix of creamy and crunch. This is one of those dishes that you just feel better for eating.
Ingredients
- 500g large heirloom or vine tomatoes (that’s about 6 large or about 12 regular sized tomatoes)
- 1 small red onion
- 1 small cucumber
- The juice of 1 orange
- The juice of 1 lemon
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- A small bunch of fresh parsley
- A small bunch of fresh coriander
- 4 soaked pitted dates
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- A small pinch of chilli powder
Gazpacho is such a summertime dish. Sweet and slightly sour (that will be the tomatoes, cider vinegar, citrus juices and softened dates), mellow spicing (chilli, cumin, coriander, parsley) and just an overall delicious mix of creamy and crunch. This is one of those dishes that you just feel better for eating.
Preparation
This recipe also calls for soaked dates: I recommend you cover the dates in a little boiling water (just enough to cover) for an hour before making. Alternatively you can use medjool dates (don’t forgot to remove the stones!) which are much softer and also larger, so halve the number required. It’s also really nice to use a mix of tomatoes if you can – yellow, red, plum, cherry, heirloom etc. It just looks so beautiful in the bowl, but if you can only get standard tomatoes then I recommend going for a mix of large and cherry, all on the vine for added flavour.
Method
- Place half of the tomatoes (choose the prettier ones to chop up later) into a blender with the juice of the orange and lemon, clove of garlic, cider vinegar, dates, cumin, chilli and oil.
- Blitz until completely smooth and then add the fresh herbs and pulse very briefly until just incorporated -if you blend the herbs too long the gazpacho will turn brown instead of a rich red colour.
- Finely dice the remaining tomatoes, cucumber and onion. Place in a large mixing bowl and then pour the blended mixture over the top.
- Season to taste, stir well and refrigerate for as long as possible before serving – if you make this the day before and leave in the fridge overnight you’ll find that the flavours really develop.
- To serve, pour the gazpacho into bowls and top with a drizzle of good quality olive oil.
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