Tomato and Almond Gazpacho

One of my favorite dishes that I cooked (well, I use the term "cook" loosely here!) on vacation was this tomato and almond gazpacho!  It is so summery and refreshing, and has such great texture from the addition of the almonds.  They also make this soup feel so much more substantial and satisfying than gazpachos I've had in the past (although I like those too).  Even my brother who is not the biggest fan of soup enjoyed this recipe (well, at least that's what he told me and I don't think he was just being polite... hopefully).  This is the first gazpacho I've ever made, and it definitely makes me want to experiment more!  Since summer has unofficially ended though, the experimentation is probably going to have to wait until Memorial Day.  In fact, I had a beef and mushroom stew simmering on the stove just yesterday... perfect for fall!  

Speaking of fall, it rivals spring for my favorite season, and includes one of my favorite holidays, Halloween(!!), so hopefully I'll be getting back to being a good blogger, and making some delicious seasonal recipes, I do love the flavors of fall dearly- I'm ready for pumpkin, apples, squash, and lots of soups and stews!

Tomato and Almond Gazpacho

from Martha Stewart Living, August 2011

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 pounds tomatoes (about 4), cored and coarsely chopped

1/2 English cucumber, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped

1/2 onion, coarsely chopped

1 small garlic clove

2 ounces almonds (scant 1/2 cup), toasted (blanching the almonds prior is optional)

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp cider vinegar

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:
1. Place the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, garlic, almonds, water, vinegar, oil, and 2 1/4 tsp of salt in a blender, and puree until smooth.  Then season with pepper.

2. Refrigerate the gazpacho for at least 45 minutes. 

3. To serve, season with salt and pepper to taste right before serving, ladle into bowl, and drizzle with olive oil.

Notes:

• I did not take the time to blanch the almonds when making this gazpacho, but it was delicious regardless, and the texture was great, so I'd say that's entirely optional.
• As I was working with limited cooking implements and ingredients as one is apt to do on vacation, I substituted cider vinegar and non-extra virgin olive oil in my gazpacho.  The original calls for extra-virgin olive oil, and sherry vinegar.  Either way you go it'll still be wonderful, so if you don't have sherry vinegar in your pantry, feel free to make a substitution.