Roasted Gazpacho
2011 © copyright Savory Simple, all rights reserved
Over Memorial Day weekend last year, my boyfriend proposed to me on top of the Empire State Building. One year later, this past spring, we were married in Cabo San Lucas in a private beach ceremony. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
Everything about the trip was perfect; the location, the resort, the weather… There was no one at our ceremony aside from the minister, two photographers, a guitar player, and some hotel guests. And that was exactly how we wanted it! After the ceremony we had a champagne toast and took photos around the property with the photographers. And then it was time for our amazing, private dinner on the beach.
One of the first courses was a silky, pureed gazpacho. The two of us were giddy, dazed, elated… but when we took the first taste of soup our attention momentarily drew away from each other and toward the amazing dish. You could taste every vegetable in the soup as though it had just come from the garden. We were enthralled by the flavors and made sure to order it several more times before returning home.
I wanted to recreate this gazpacho for myself and as a gift to my new husband. The flavors were so pronounced and intense and the texture was so smooth (unlike a typical gazpacho made with raw vegetables) that I thought maybe the vegetables were roasted to enhance their flavors and soften them up. This is my attempt to recreate the dish from my wedding dinner. My husband gave it his seal of approval and now I want to share it with you!
This recipe takes a bit of time but it’s really worth it. Most of the vegetables need to be roasted which can be done a day ahead of time if you prefer. Otherwise, it’s a great recipe for a lazy weekend day. The vegetables don’t need much attention while roasting, so you can just work on them periodically and then serve the soup for dinner.
Oven-roasted tomatoes:
Garlic, ready to be roasted:
Roasted Gazpacho
Ingredients:
- 10 tomatoes
- 1 red pepper
- 1 hothouse cucumber
- 1 head of garlic
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 1/4 cup chopped basil
- 1 tablespoon champagne or white wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus extra for vegetables
- 1 teaspoons black pepper
- olive oil
- optional garnish: diced cucumber, onion, red pepper
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Slice tomatoes in half, rub with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Slow roast in the oven for 2 hours. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- Turn the temperature of the oven up to 375. Coarsely chop the onion, coat with oil and spread evenly in a roasting pan, sprinkling with salt. Set aside momentarily.
- To roast the garlic: remove the outer layers of skin from the garlic bulb, leaving only the cloves in their skin attached together at the base. Carefully slice off the top of the head so that the cloves are exposed (see above picture). Place the head in a ramekin or tin foil, drizzle generously with olive oil and salt. Cover with foil.
- Place both the onions and the garlic in the oven to roast for approximately 30 minutes. Check on the onions periodically and maybe give them a nudge so they cook evenly. Remove everything from the oven to cool. Once the garlic has cooled you should be able to squeeze the roasted cloves out of their skins. You should then be able to mash them like a paste. I had a smaller head of garlic that yielded around 2 1/2 teaspoons of roasted garlic paste, all of which ultimately went into the soup.
- Now turn the oven way up to 475 and carefully move the oven rack to the top shelf. Give the red pepper an olive oil massage (no salt this time). Roast it for 30 minutes, turning it after 15 with tongs and then checking it every 5 minutes or so. Turn the pepper as the skin blackens. After 30 minutes remove it from the oven to cool. Once it has cooled, peel off the skin and discard the seeds.
- Peel the cucumber and remove the seeds with a spoon. Dice and set aside. Chop up the basil and set aside.
- Carefully ladle your tomatoes into a sturdy blender (as well as any juices on the roasting tray) and puree them. Depending on the size of your tomatoes, you should have somewhere between 7-8 cups of roasted tomato puree. You want approximately 7 cups for this recipe so set any excess puree aside. Most blenders have cup measurements right on the side to make this step easy.
- Slowly add the other vegetables to the blender, pureeing everything to a smooth consistency. Also add the salt, pepper and vinegar. Drizzle in a bit more olive oil. Adjust the seasoning to your taste.
- Strain the soup through a food mill, chinois or fine mesh strainer.
- Serve chilled with a nice olive oil drizzled on top. And I recommend the optional garnish; it adds a nice crunch as well as more flavor!
jen, this is lovely – the chilled soup and the story that prompted it.
Thank, Lan!
It is definitely gazpacho weather…your version is lovely.
Thank you very much!
What a beautifully vibrant and bright gazpacho – fabulous! Thank you for sharing your wonderful private wedding with us.
:-) Mandy
Thanks for stopping by! It was fun to share the story :)
What a beautiful recipe and story! Can’t wait to try it myself!!
Thanks, Xani! Let me know what you think if you try it!
I love this post! Your wedding sounded perfect :-) I have to try this recipe! I always find gazpacho too “raw” for my liking, as puréed vegetables when uncooked can be a little odd-tasting. I think that the Spanish add sugar if the tomatoes aren’t ripe enough. So thanks for sharing! When I get back from working abroad this September I’m definitely trying this!
Thank you! Let me know what you think of it!
Congrats for your wedding. I recently made and posted about gazpacho and read a ton of recipes out there and saw lotsa pictures. This happens to be one of the nicest photos I saw and it sounds delicious.
Thank you, that means a lot!
Bookmarked!! And congratulations :)
Thank you so much!!!
Welcome back!! I’ve missed your posts.
And congratulations! What a lovely wedding.
Thanks for the recipe! Sounds amazing. And today is the perfect day for such a soup.
Thanks! I’ve been busy with work but I’m eager to get back to blogging, so you should be seeing more regular updates again.
What beautiful pictures, and a loving memory to go with the soup.
Thank you :)
Congratulations on your new marriage! What a beautiful shot of you two on the beach. I don’t even like tomato soup (childhood memories of the canned stuff) but this looks and sounds amazing!
Wow great photo’s, excellent recipe, glad to had found your site
Thank you! This post is a special one for me.
If you’d asked me five minutes ago how I liked my gazpacho I would’ve said chunky hands down. You’ve definitely challenged that notion for me. The roasted tomatoes and garlic are superb. Great post.
Give it a try! It’s like gazpacho with the volume turned up. I still love it the old-fashioned way but I really love it this way.
This looks wonderful, don’t know why I never thought of roasting the tomatoes first, great idea
A very nice soup and healthy to boot. It was a real hit here. I added roasted chili peppers for some heat and a dollop of sour cream to finish it off. Delishious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I love your additions, they sound wonderful.
Your photos are so austere, yet compelling. Nice blog.
Thank you! I love the photos on your blog as well!
I love a good food memory and the soup looks great! On my honeymoon everything tasted perfect, I am sure being happy played a part. :)
I just made Gazpacho tonight!! Ironic- because I’m just now discovering your Blog (and this posting). I love the roasted factor – gonna have to try this! Thanks. :)
I am really enjoying the lay out and style of this food/cooking blog. Thank you for the excellent presentation and recipes
Thank you! I really like your photography.
It’s just past breakfast, but you’ve succeeded in making me hungry for gazpacho! This looks/sounds gorgeous/amazing! Will try! And thank you for sharing about your lovely wedding. Much happiness to you two!
This looks delicious and I love the beautiful story that goes along with it. If I can get my hands on some tomatoes at the farmers’ market this weekend, this is going on Sunday’s menu.
That’s awesome! Please let me know how it turns out if you make it!
that first photo of the soup is just gorgeous!
I love gazpacho so much, I’ll definitely have to try this! Lovely story as well and beautiful site!
I love this unexpected take on gazpacho! It gives it a somewhat Italian flair. The champagne vinegar caught my eye, I have never tried it. How does it compare in flavor to other vinegars? My personal favorite for traditional gazpachos is sherry vinegar: I love the complexity it brings to the fresh vegetables. I am curious to see if it would also work well with the “roasted approach” to gazpacho,
I think sherry vinegar would work perfectly. I had a nice champagne vinegar on hand so I used it. It’s a slightly sweet, more complex version of white wine vinegar.