Gazpacho Salsa
- Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 2
Description
This is a base for a very standard, Americanized gazpacho that’s been popular since the 70s.
Ingredients
- 4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded
- 1 purple onion
- 3 smallish cucumbers, seeded
- 2 red bell peppers, seeded
- 1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded if desired (more seeds = more heat)
- 3 to 6 cloves garlic, according to how garlicky you want it
- 5 tbsp (75 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 5 tbsp (75 ml) white wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
- salt and pepper to taste
- minced fresh cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Cut the tomatoes, onion, cucumbers, bell peppers, and jalapeno into chunks, roughly 1 1/1″ square.
- In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, pulse the cucumbers and garlic together several times, until chopped finely. Remove to a large bowl.
- Pulse the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno together finely, then remove to the bowl.
- Pulse the tomatoes until chopped and juicy, then remove to the bowl.
- Add olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and optional cilantro to the vegetables. Taste, adjust seasonings, and let sit in refrigerator for several hours to develop the flavors.
Notes
- I like to group the vegetables according to their hardness when I process them, to avoid mixed textures.
- For instance, if soft tomatoes are processed along with hard onion, you might end up with tomato soup and big onion chunks that still haven’t broken down instead of a more consistently textured chop.
- But if you want a smoothly pureed salsa, you can certainly process the vegetables in any combination.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Condiment
- Cuisine: Spanish
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 160
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the recipe pulse each vegetable separately in the food processor?
Processing vegetables of different hardnesses together leads to uneven texture — soft tomatoes can turn to soup while hard onion chunks remain underdone. By grouping them by hardness (cucumbers and garlic first, then onion and peppers, then tomatoes last), you get a more uniformly chopped result throughout.
How hot does the jalapeño make this salsa?
I call for 1 or 2 jalapeños — more seeds equals more heat. Seeding the jalapeños before processing will give a milder result; leaving the seeds in increases the spice level.
How long should this salsa chill before serving?
Refrigerate for several hours to allow the flavors to develop after adding the 5 tbsp olive oil and 5 tbsp white wine vinegar. The total time is over 8 hours, so making it the night before is ideal.
