I love to cook seasonal foods, especially fresh produce from the Pike Place Market. This summer, I decided to make gazpacho. It has been about ten years since I last made this dish, and was excited to make it again and find a recipe I liked. I reviewed several recipes from NY Times Cooking, Cooks Illustrated, Food Network, and several cookbooks in my library. I was especially inspired by “The Heirloom Tomato” book by Amy Goldman, which proved to be a great source for learning about the many heirloom varieties and is filled with colorful photography by Victor Schrager.

Ingredients

6 to 8 – large heirloom tomatoes, blanched and peeled

1 – English cucumber peeled and seeded

2 to 3 – colored peppers – red, orange, or yellow – any combination works

4 – large garlic cloves smashed

1 – red onion diced

1 – bunch of cilantro finely chopped

1 – serrano pepper seeded

1 – Lime juiced

2 – 4 tablespoons of EVOO

1 – tablespoon of sherry vinegar – I really am fond of an aged sherry vinegar called Vinagre de Jerez Reserva from Columela – but any decent sherry, red, champagne, or balsamic vinegar will suffice

Several dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Remove the stem of the tomatoes and blanch – this means boil the water, place tomatoes in the water when billing for about 15 seconds, and transfer to a large ice bath i.e., a bowl full of cold water and ice. When cool, the skins of the tomatoes should easily peel. Quarter the tomatoes.

Peel and seed the cucumbers and dice them into quarter-inch size chunks.

Seed and chop the colored peppers into quarter-inch size chunks.

Finely chop the onion.

Finely chop the cilantro.

Seed and finely chop the serrano pepper.

Smash the garlic cloves.

Squeeze the lime juice into a bowl.

Place all ingredients into a Vitamix or other blender or food processor. Pulse until you reach the desired chunkiness, or puree to a liquid and anything in between. I suggest making multiple batches with various thicknesses based on your preference and how you wish to serve. It’s always easier to pulse the gazpacho to a fine, creamy, or liquid puree but harder to make it chunkier.