Author Notes
The addition of honeydew and pappadew peppers (but not Mountain Dew, thank you very much) to a basic gazpacho recipe—adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook—provides a lovely layer of sweetness and piquancy. - DebbieK —debbiek
Test Kitchen Notes
Usually when you make gazpacho, you throw all the ingredients into a food processor and puree them at once, leaving bits of only the sturdiest ingredients. DebbieK makes hers in batches. You pulse each ingredient separately so it’s broken down to an evenly coarse puree. The addition of honeydew and peppadew is brilliant – broadening the range of sweetness and heat. And we like DebbieK’s instructions to add “several glugs” of olive oil and sherry vinegar. After much vigorous tasting we determined several glugs to be 6 to 8 tablespoons. Add the oil and vinegar to taste – and with gazpacho you should always adjust the seasonings again just before serving. This soup improves with time -- a few hours, or a day even. - A&M —The Editors
Ingredients
-
1
large English cucumber, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch chunks
-
2
red bell peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks
-
8
peppadew peppers, drained
-
3
large tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks
-
1/2
red onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
-
1/3
of a large honeydew melon, seeded, peeled, and cut into 1-inch chunks
-
4
cloves garlic, minced
-
1
46-oz bottle of low-sodium vegetable juice
-
Several glugs of olive oil
-
Several glugs of sherry vinegar
-
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions
-
In your food processor, pulse each of the vegetables and the honeydew separately until the pieces are small and uniform—if you do them all at once, you’ll end up with a mushy mess. (You can put the pappadews in with the bell peppers, and I’ve been known to toss the garlic in with the red onion instead of mincing by hand.)
-
After you process each one, put it into the largest bowl you have.
-
Add the garlic (if you haven’t already) and the remaining ingredients.
-
Stir to combine, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit for several hours, stirring occasionally. This is much, much better after it’s had a nice long rest.
See what other Food52ers are saying.