It’s the peak of summer. From now until well into fall, it is High Tomato Season and I’ll have a bowl or two of red gazpacho every week. I never tire of gazpacho.
That’s not quite true. Sometimes, sometimes, I just long for another color and a change in flavor. A real change in flavor. I’ll get to white gazpacho soon. Today, we go green. Deep green.
The flavor here is intense with a definite sour bite. Some traditional ingredients are not present here. For example, vinegar. I use the tomatillos instead to introduce sour notes.
The heat content in this soup, and it does have heat, comes from multiple sources: the scallions, the jalapenos, the poblanos, and those tomatillos. My suggested two jalapenos particularly generate fire in the mouth. You might want to go with only one and you can certainly adjust the number of poblanos, too.
The tomatillos present a challenge. Fresh out of the blender, with just a slight chill, this soup is smooth and, of course, quite liquid. But, tomatillos are rich in pectin. That pectin and the bread will result in the soup becoming more like a porridge after a night in the refrigerator. You have options:
- Eat the thick version with relish
- Dilute with water, 2 parts soup to 1 part water, and stir
- For ½ cup of soup, add one teaspoon of red wine vinegar and stir; you get liquefaction and can adjust the relative amount, and flavors, at will
One option I considered, but did not add, was an avocado. It would affect flavor, only a tad given all the heat, and certainly the texture. I found this soup to be perfectly interesting. Adding an avocado or two would have doubled the cost of this soup. At a time when we all look twice at our food costs, my version below is lovely to eat and light on your budget.
Brian’s Green Gazpacho
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
- 1-3 tomatillos, husked and washed
- 2 poblanos
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed, then diced
- 10 ounces of seedless grapes, with all stems removed, plus a handful of grapes reserved and halved
- 1 bunch of scallions, ends removed, white and green parts medium diced
- 4 ounces of French/Italian bread ripped into large pieces
- 1-2 jalapenos, halved, seeded and chopped
- ½ bunch of cilantro, washed and chopped
- 6 ounces plain yogurt
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Garnishes of your choice: those halved grapes, diced tomatoes, onions, sour cream, …
Preparation:
Turn the oven on to 350°. Line a cookie sheet with foil and put the tomatillos on the foil and into the oven. Preheating is not needed. After about 45-60 minutes, depending on the size of the tomatillo, they will begin to soften and blacken. Test for softness and remove them. Allow them to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, roast the 2 poblanos over flame until blackened. Put the chilies in a paper bag, wait
Put all the ingredients, except the salt and pepper, in a blender and process until smooth. You may need to stop the blender two or three times and push the contents around. Put the processed soup in a metal bowl. You can taste test now, for salt and pepper, but it is better to wait until the soup has chilled. The tomatillos add exceptional zip so you may find that adding salt is entirely unnecessary — one of the side benefits of tomatillos.
Chill thoroughly. Adjust the salt and pepper if desired.
Garnish, if you wish, with diced tomatoes, onions, sour cream, …
Source: Brian O’Rourke
Photo Information Canon T2i, EFS 60 mm Macro Lens, F/4 for 1/25th second at ISO‑3200