We first went to Lauro Kitchen on SE Division a little bit after it opened. It is afterall, a neighborhood place in our neighborhood. We both liked it a lot and then kind of forgot to go back. Anyway, one of the things I do remember is how much I loved the gazpacho. Imagine my delight when stumbling upon their website, they had the Gazpacho Recipe listed! Awesome!
I made it within a day or two of finding it. Probably the only time I will be happy for hot weather. Anyway, it was so good. But, I did think it was pretty vinegary — I love vinegar so it was fine for me and jwa. I would start using 1/2 the vinegar called for to begin with and then tasting and adding more to your liking. The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup but I say start with a couple of tablespoons.
You can also serve this in a glass with some grilled shrimp (like they do). Oh and drizzle some tasty olive oil on top for decoration.
Printable recipe from LK’s Website
Lauro Kitchen Gazpacho
10 large, ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
4 slices dry bread, crust removed
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded
1 large hothouse cucumber, peeled
1 large red onion, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 – 4 tbsp sherry vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil + more for drizzling
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cupcold water
salt and pepper to taste
Chopped herbs for the top (parsley, basil, chives)
Cover the bread with water and soak for 5 minutes. While this happens, puree the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and garlic in a blender, in batches.
Push the mixture through a strainer into a container. This is why I didn’t peel my tomatoes. Well, I didn’t peel them because I am lazy but I also figured that putting them through the strainer would catch most of the peel. It did.
Remove the bread from the water and squeeze out the excess water. Place that in the blender and puree with the olive oil. You will need to get some olive oil in there before the bread starts to actually do anything.
Add the vinegar and lemon juice. Add some of the tomato mixture back to the blender and then mix it back into the container. Taste. Stir in more vinegar if you’d like.
Season with the salt and pepper and adjust the consistency with the cold water. Serve in bowls with olive oil drizzle and chopped herbs.