Domestic Diva! - Gazpacho

So the other day my sweetie and I were munching on Flatout Flatbread Crisps, when my sweetie mentioned that he thought they would be great with Gazpacho.

Hmm.  I've never made this before.  So after a bit of research I found a recipe on Pioneer Woman that I thought I could make.  I really love checking out her site.  She has so many wonderful ideas.

You'll need:

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 whole red onion, diced

1 whole large cucumber, diced

5 whole tomatoes, diced

1 whole zucchini, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 dash of salt, to taste

1/4 gallon tomato juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/8 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

6 dashes Tabasco, or less to taste

1 dash pepper, to taste

Fresh Veggies!  Yum!

First mince the garlic finely.  I'm lazy, I admit it.  I used 2 teaspoons of the already minced garlic.  Next cut your red onion in half and then peel.

Then dice...  I used less of the onion.  I'm not big on onion and tried to keep my pieces small.  It's all about personal preference though.

Next cut the cucumber in half lengthwise.  I hope you can halve yours better than I can.  

Then dice them up.  A helpful hint is to cut the long vegetables into match sticks.  It does make it a bit easier.

Use this method on the zucchini too.  Okay?  Great!

Next dice up the tomatoes.  I'm using 2 large ones for this batch.  There are only two of us so I don't want to go over board.  And it's going to make a lot!

Finally dice up some celery stalks.  I know Pioneer Woman recommends using the leaves as well, but mine had no leaves since they'd been cleaned earlier.  It's all up to your preference.

Next you blend up the garlic with half the tomato juice and half the vegetables.  I had to do it in smaller batches because I have a small food processor, but you get the idea.

Next pour in 2 cups of the tomato juice.  Or whatever your food processor can handle.

Then add 1/4 cup olive oil.  I highly recommend using extra virgin olive oil here.  Next add the vinegar.  It doesn't have to be red wine vinegar, but it's what I like.  And you can use as much as you want.  I just didn't want the acidity to be too high.

To counter both the acidity of the vinegar and tomato, add some sugar.  I added only 2 small spoonfuls, but you can do more.  Just keep tasting.  I'm not one for sweet soup so that's why I only did a little sugar.

If you want to spice things up you can add a few dashes of Tabasco or more.  I actually forgot this steps, so mine has no spice or heat to it.

You can also add the salt at this time.  

Now blend!

Please note that we are not making this completely smooth.  It'll have a nice texture and pretty flakes of color in it.  I love those pretty flecks of green from the cucumber and zucchini.

Next pour into a large bowl and add the rest of the tomato juice.  At this time you can add 1/2 of the remaining vegetables, this will give you more texture.  I'll admit I didn't do this, so I have lots of veggies left over for topping.

Cover the bowl and chill a couple of hours.  Not only do you want the gazpacho cold, but you want to give the flavors time to meld.