Caprese Gazpacho

Caprese GazpachoOnce again our house was full of beautiful tomatoes.  With the warm summer temperatures lately, I wanted to get away from the stove for the evening but still do something fulfilling with all our fresh vegetables.  
 

I instantly thought of gazpacho, a cold raw vegetable soup from Spain.  I also had all the ingredients on hand to make my favorite salad, Insalata Caprese, made simply with buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil.

 

Finally, I realized I could merge the two into one great dish and enjoy all the wonderful flavors from Spain and Italy in one bite.  This recipe would be wonderful served for lunch or as a light supper.  It looks beautiful plated up and would surely impress dinner guests as a first course.  Enjoy!

The Gazpacho Line-up
Caprese Gazpacho (printable recipe)

• 4 medium-sized tomatoes (about 2 lbs), coarsely chopped - reserve 1 cup of the tomatoes, 1/4 inch dice
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped - reserve 1/4 cup of the cucumber, 1/4 inch dice
• 1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped - reserve 1/4 of the onion and dice fine
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, torn into pieces - reserve 1 tablespoon chiffonade
• 1 bell pepper (any color you have on hand), coarsely chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed then coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 3 ounces fresh mozzarella, 1/4 inch dice
• 2 slices of bread, crust removed and coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for garnish
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• Salt and pepper

Caprese Salsa
In a bowl combine, reserved tomato, cucumber, onion, and basil. Fold in mozzarella then season with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside in refrigerator to stay cool.

Gazpacho
In a large bowl, combine the remaining tomatoes, cucumber, onion, basil, bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic, and bread. Working in batches, puree ingredients in a blender while slowly pouring in the olive oil, until it is a smooth consistency.

With a spatula push soup through a fine mesh strainer into a large serving bowl. Stir in red wine vinegar, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Cover soup and let chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

To serve, ladle soup into individual bowls and garnish with caprese salsa and a drizzle of olive oil.

Serves 4

The Gazpacho-maker