Glut of Tomatoes? Make Gazpacho with Rosemary & Leek Focaccia!

Transform tons of fresh tomatoes into a delicious (and healthy) gazpacho!

Have you noticed how you wait and wait for the tomatoes to ripen and, then suddenly, you have buckets of them all at once? What do you do with a glut of tomatoes? Make Gazpacho!

Gazpacho is a cold vegetable soup that originated in the Spanish culture. I am particularly fond of the Gazpacho recipe in Molly Katzen’s vegetarian cookbook, Moosewood Cookbook. This recipe not only uses up tomatoes, it also uses other fresh vegetables and herbs from your garden and tastes very fresh. And it is low calorie and an easy way to eat all those vegetable servings we are supposed to have. I like to make enough for dinner and some extra for lunch the next day or two. It is especially tasty with a good bread. Tonight we had Rosemary & Leek Focaccia and they were perfect partners.

Lovely summer supper

Here are the recipes!

Gazpacho  (makes enough for 6 servings)

Prep time: 10 – 30 minutes to prepare plus time to chill

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups of tomato juice
  • 1/2 cup minced onion
  • 1 minced clove garlic (we like more)
  • 1 bell pepper, minced
  • 1 tablespoon of honey (I prefer putting in 1/2 to 1 cup of fresh peaches or cantaloupe instead)
  • 1 medium cucumber
  • 2 tablespoons wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon each of fresh tarragon & basil
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cups diced tomatoes
  • salt, pepper and cayenne to taste

Directions:

  1. Put everything in a blender or food processor and puree, chill, then add some chunky garnish and serve.
  2. I keep a little of the minced bell pepper aside, dice another tomato or two and garnish with a dollop of sour cream sprinkled with chives.

Fresh homemade Gazpacho

Rosemary & Leek Focaccia Bread  (makes enough for 6-8 servings)

Prep time: 30 minutes,  Rise time: 45 minutes, Bake time : 30 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 recipe of any traditional pizza dough or 1 pound bread dough, defrosted
  • 1 sweet onion or 2 leeks and several tablespoons of fresh rosemary

Directions:

  1. Saute onions or leeks in olive oil until softened , but not browned
  2. Butter a circular pizza pan or  a 10 by 8 inch rectangular pan
  3. Pat or roll the dough to fit the pan and brush with melted butter
  4. Indent the surface with your fingertips and top with leek mixture
  5. Sprinkle on the rosemary
  6. Let rise in a warm place, covered with a kitchen towel until doubled in size
  7. Bake at 350 degrees until puffy and lightly golden brown

Rosemary & Leek Focaccia Bread

Put it all together and you have a delightful, healthy meal straight from your garden!

Rosemary & Leek Focaccia and Gazpacho

Comments are closed.
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox

Join other followers