<p>I love a good gazpacho, but my goodness there are so many variations. Does anyone have a favorite recipe or a unique key ingredient? </p>
<p>I use 1/2 Clamato juice and 1/2 tomato juice with lime juice and fresh basil. My MIL insists that a can of beef consume is the secret and my mother insists that the key is cumin.</p>
<p>Also, do you puree the base or go with tomato pieces?</p>
<p>This makes a ton and is always delicious. Using a good olive oil and letting flavors blend are key. </p>
<p>[Gazpacho</a> Recipe : Ina Garten : Food Network](<a href=“http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/gazpacho-recipe/index.html]Gazpacho”>http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/gazpacho-recipe/index.html)</p>
<p>My recipe:</p>
<p>1 big can whole, peeled tomatoes (you could use fresh tomatoes, but you get an excellent result with canned, really). Keep the can in the refrigerator and the chilling time for the soup before serving will be much reducted.</p>
<p>1/2 a medium cucumber, seeded.</p>
<p>1/2 a medium green pepper, seeded</p>
<p>1/2 a small onion (you can use a red onion or a sweet onion)</p>
<p>Cut the vegetables into chunks and combine all of the above in a blender (including the juice from the can of tomatoes).</p>
<p>Stir in a clove or two of crushed garlic, about 4 T balsamic vinegar, and a few T olive oil.</p>
<p>Serve chilled.
Chop the remaining vegetables (the other halves) and put them into dishes to use for garlic, along with croutons.</p>
<p>I was inspired by our family vacation to Spain this month. The most authentic recipe I’ve found is by chef Jose Andres in his cookbook on tapas.</p>
<p>~10 plum tomatoes
1 cucumber, peeled & seeded
1/2 bell pepper (I prefer yellow or orange peppers - green bell peppers are too bitter & red peppers are too sweet)
1 garlic clove, peeled
**2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
3/4 cup Spanish olive oil
2 tsp. salt</p>
<p>Place in blender & puree until liquid. Pour gazpacho through a strainer & chill for 30 minutes.</p>
<p>optional: 1 scallion (my own addition, not in Jose Andres’ recipe)</p>
<p>I’ve found that the key ingredients are the sherry vinegar - which is a bit pricey at the supermarket but oh, so worth it - and the olive oil, which helps to ‘bind’ the liquid together & keeps it from separating. I’ve been guzzling gallons of this gazpacho.</p>
<p>The Spanish serve chopped onions, peppers & croutons as ‘condiments’ to add to the gazpacho, like DeskPotato mentioned.</p>
<p>My recipe is basically the same as DeskPotato’s except I use chilled tomato juice rather than canned tomatoes, red wine vinegar rather than balsamic, and add a generous dash of Tobasco sauce.</p>
<p>Sherry vinegar sounds intriguing.</p>
<p>My recipe is the same and has never failed me… so refreshing in the summer heat and so easy to prepare. I use either canned tomatoes (16 oz) and sometimes will add a cut-up tomato to that. My recipe also calls for 2 cups tomato juice… but instead I use the low-sodium V-8 juice and then rather than croutons, I garnish with scallions.This recipe can from a small cookbook that came along when I bought my first food processor about 30 years ago. The food processor still works perfectly fine…</p>