Jim's Gazpacho

By JimMac

Ingredients

• garnish:
• 6 cups tomato juice or V-8 or Bloody Mary mix (even Clamato would work)
• 1 (14-1/2 oz.) can chicken broth (or homemade) - optional
• 1 cup tomato salsa
• 8 medium-sized, ripe tomatoes (Roma are especially good) - peeled and chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded
• 1 yellow pepper. seeded
• 1 Tablespoon chopped jalapeno pepper
• 1 cucumber
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1/2 cup celery
• 1 cup green onion (white part only, keep finely chopped green tops for garnish)
• 1/2 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jar pimentos, chopped
• 1 slice of bread (stale bread is okay)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon tomato purée
• 1/2 t Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 T lemon juice (or lime juice)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1-1/2 oz. vodka
• 1 t cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste
• pinch celery salt
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• pinch of oregano
• pinch of savory
• 2 Tablespoons shredded basil leaves to taste
• 2 Tablespoons shredded cilantro leaves to taste
• dash of hot sauce
• 3-1/2 cups cooked small white beans (canned are fine)
• sour cream
• avocado chunks
• avocado creme fraiche (see recipe)
• finely chopped green onion tops
• chopped hard boiled eggs
• chopped ham
• finely cubed cucumber
• croutons
• dots of balsamic glaze

Details

Servings 12

Preparation

Step 1

1. Roughly chop the vegetables, removing the stems and seeds. Skins are perfectly acceptable in gazpacho soup.

2. Tear up the bread into chunks.

3. Mince or finely chop the garlic, or run it through a garlic press.

4. Add all the ingredients to a food processor, and puree until completely mixed. Do not over-process, as you want a soup, not a juice. Do this in batches if necessary.

5. Add the white beans

If you do not have a food processor, chop the vegetables more finely, and process in a blender.