Garden Gazpacho

G A Z P A C H O... the word sounds so foreign and unknown to many of us. A usually tomato-based, cold vegetable soup, gazpacho is a great escape from your every day meal. Recently, I had the pleasure of taking a personal trip to AMP 150 Bar and Restaurant, searching for blog inspiration. The entire meal was a taste bud fiesta, filled with amazing dishes that truly entertained AMP 150's "farm to table" promise. A true experience, I honestly enjoyed all three of my courses, taking two and a half hours of time to myself, indulging and savoring every bite.

Garden Gazpacho at AMP 150

For my first course I chose the garden gazpacho. It came highly recommended by my very kind and helpful waitress and I really hadn't had gazpacho in years. I was in love with the presentation, a great start to any meal. Opening the jar filled with luscious golden gazpacho, adding as much olive oil breadcrumbs and shrimp escabeche as I wanted, was a fun and entertaining experience.

Then came the first bite...wow! What complex flavors! The fresh veggies, the acidic vinegar, I loved discovering this gazpacho, unfolding it layer by layer.

At that moment I knew I had to try to recreate this delicious soup.

After doing some research into the different kinds of gazpacho, and pondering on the tasty flavors of the garden gazpacho at AMP 150, I've created a garden gazpacho recipe that I am proud of. To make this gazpacho I wanted to use fresh veggies from Pickering Hill Farms Market in Avon, these would be the base of my soup. Such beautiful, ripe colors, and fresh basil. Instead of just using plum tomatoes, I decided to use some heirloom tomatoes as well.

The fresh veggies and basil for the garden gazpacho

Here is what you will need to recreate AMP 150's amazing garden gazpacho at home:

• 2 sprigs of fresh basil leaves, or 1 1/2 tablespoon of dried basil
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 1 large cucumber
• 3 plum tomatoes
• 3 heirloom tomatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 slices plain white bread, take off the crust, soak in water and then squeeze out the water

Cut the veggies into large pieces and put everything above into a food processor and turn it on until all of the ingredients get thoroughly chopped and blended together. If you have a smaller food processor you may have to split the recipe in two or four to blend together, but not a problem, work with what you have. You can also use a blender, but chop up the veggies smaller before you blend them. Put all of the blended gazpacho into a container and put in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight if you can.

While your gazpacho is cooling you can make breadcrumbs, which add a great pop and crunch to the soup.  Either cut up crusty italian/stale white bread into cubes, place on a baking pan and cover in olive oil, baking on low broil until golden brown on all sides, then place in food processor and grind up. Or you can get classic croutons and put them into the food processor and grind up as well. If you are a fan of shrimp like I am, just get a bag of frozen tiny shrimp, de-thaw, pat dry with a paper towel and add to your gazpacho. Serve cold from the fridge, and add the breadcrumbs and shrimp to your taste. Enjoy!

My Garden Gazpacho presentation!