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Cold Tomato Summer Vegetable Soup

Cold Tomato Summer Vegetable Soup

My father made this cold tomato and zucchini soup the other day.

"Don't call it gazpacho."
"Why not? It looks like gazpacho, but with some zucchini."
"It's my soup. I made it up. It's not gazpacho. Don't call it gazpacho."
"Okay dad, whatever you say."

So instead, my brother Eddie has named it "The Farmer's Market in a Soup". And, given that dad brought home every ingredient except the seasonings and broth from our local farmers market, the name makes sense. It is a wonderfully cool, fresh soup for a hot summer day. Just don't call it gazpacho.

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Cold Tomato Summer Vegetable Soup Recipe

Note, dad says to chop the zucchini finer than what is pictured in the photo.

Ingredients

  • 6 fresh, ripe tomatoes, seeds removed (cut tomatoes in half, squeeze out seeds into a sieve over a bowl to catch the juice, use the juice, discard the seeds), chopped
  • 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped fine
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped fine
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped fine
  • 1 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 zucchini, chopped fine
  • 1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped fine
  • 1-2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 cups tomato juice (in addition to the juice made when you squeezed the tomatoes above)
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano (or pinch of dry)
  • 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
  • Hot sauce if needed

Method

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Use the additional tomato juice to thin the soup to desired consistency. Adjust seasonings to taste. Better the next day.

Serves 8.

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27 Comments

Ooooo that looks so yummy! I was wondering though, is the tomato juice listed seperate from the juice leftover from the tomatos after straing out the seeds?

Posted by: katrina on August 23, 2007 8:38 PM

That does look tasty! Good job to your Dad! I love Summer veggies and fruit. Some of the best eating comes during these months.

Posted by: Jessica on August 23, 2007 8:55 PM

This is the perfect recipe for me. I signed up with a local farm for their community supported agriculture program, and I've been getting a plethora of tomatoes and squash. Thanks!

Posted by: Barry on August 23, 2007 9:03 PM

After having read Ximena's thorough 'gazpacho course' on her blog, and eaten her gazpacho at my place, I wouldn't argue with your dad for sure:) But the soup certainly looks healthy and inviting!

Posted by: Pille on August 23, 2007 10:03 PM

Your dad is hilarious. :) Beautiful photo!

Posted by: Ashley on August 23, 2007 10:20 PM

Gazpacho doesn't have zucchini or celery, that's why you can't call it gazpacho. But then again, there are at least 1.27349 million varieties of gazpacho (only in Spain). ;-)

Posted by: spaniard on August 24, 2007 12:30 AM

Really delicious! Just made it and tasted it. But a word of warning: you really have to want to make it because the "chop fine" of everything goes on forever. And just a note: it may be easier to use plum tomatoes because sieving the seeds from regular tomatoes is not easy.
Bottom line: kudos to your Dad for the "not gazpacho" soup. It is so refreshing and perfect for now.

Posted by: Carol on August 24, 2007 3:23 AM

This looks wonderful, I can't wait to try it!

Posted by: Cara on August 24, 2007 6:33 AM

That's what I am going to make today! I was looking for some recipe for hot summer dinner and like usually found it on your site! Thanks a lot.

Posted by: home cook on August 24, 2007 8:52 AM

I'd take a little bit of help from the food processor to break down the veggies -- not the zen approach, but that's how I make gazpacho, too. This looks delicious -- hats off to your dad!

Posted by: lydia on August 24, 2007 9:26 AM

I think your dad is right - *NOT* gazpacho, since gazpacho has bread as one of the ingredients. No day old bread in the recipe? Then it isn't gazpacho. At least not where I grew up.

That said, a wonderful chilled vegetable soup. Commend your father on his culinary artistry in general, and on this recipe in specific!!

Posted by: tom the bulky guy on August 24, 2007 11:17 AM

OKAY ... I might not be quite as "right" as I'd like to be. "Salmorejo" is more in line with the "more bread, please" gazpacho. And Salmorejo has been, typically, a recipe with fewer ingredients ... and more bread. In any case, this is a very good "not gazpacho" cold soup, perhaps a Salmorejo, but at this point, all I can say is, enjoy.

I'm off to have lunch.

Posted by: Tom the round but apologetic on August 24, 2007 12:23 PM

Your dad sounds too cute. No argument here.

Although does it make me pathetic that I read through the ingredients, saw tomato juice and Worcestershire sauce and lost my desire for soup and now crave a Bloody Mary?

Posted by: Christine on August 24, 2007 12:51 PM

Hi Christine - Cute? Nah. Curmudgeonly charming tough guy more like it. Sort of a cross between Paul Newman and "go ahead, make my day" Clint Eastwood. And looking pretty good for 77. Imagine Clint Eastwood telling you not to call it gazpacho and you'll be pretty close.

Posted by: Elise on August 24, 2007 1:06 PM

You and your dad, what a wonderful partnership. Fabulous looking soup.

Posted by: valentina on August 24, 2007 2:47 PM

I would think this could also be considered a salad, no?

Posted by: gail on August 24, 2007 6:38 PM

Sherry vinegar? Hmm. Trying to imagine the delicious combination of flavors. I don't know that I've ever had cold soup, but I do like summer veggies and salsa. The picture looks very appetizing. Thx :)

Posted by: merd on August 24, 2007 10:21 PM

Hi Gail - Sure, if you like to eat salad with a spoon. ;-)

Posted by: Elise on August 24, 2007 11:49 PM

Hmmm... I bet a little Avacado added to that would be tasty. Of course,... whatever is fresh and available would be a tasty addition.

Elise - what are you doing? Posting your Dad's pic to make him the centerfold of the food blog world?

Posted by: Gary in Massena on August 25, 2007 7:23 AM

Hi Gary - some avocado would be a great addition to this soup. I'll tell my dad what you said about centerfold material; that'll be good for a chuckle. ;-)

Posted by: Elise on August 25, 2007 8:35 AM

Has anyone tried gently warming this to like body temperature? I'm not into "cold" so much - I warm my ketchup to room temp before using.

I like the idea of avocado instead of the zucchini. Zuc's are ok, but I'm from W.PA where every year you had Zuc-overload by mid-September. PS-they're already warning people to lock their car doors lest they return to find a back seat filled with Zuc's. ;-)

Posted by: Lisa in Germantown on August 27, 2007 5:44 AM

Yummy yummy yummy! I love this summer soup, as did my picky family. Thank you for sharing.

Posted by: phins in the north on August 28, 2007 3:45 PM

I think this sounds great but I was wondering if you could eat it hot.

Posted by: chelsea on September 3, 2007 11:35 AM

I've made this twice now. It's easy to eat tons of it, and it really does taste better the next day. Excellent with heirloom tomatoes with a variety of colors.

Posted by: psteve on September 17, 2007 10:40 PM

Had the ingredients laying around and was feeling a little lazy about making dinner, so I stuck it all together in half an hour. Great, although I added no hotsauce though, didn't need it.

Posted by: Maurice on February 15, 2008 8:41 PM

Just made a batch of this with several tweaks based on what I had out of my garden. Delicious and very light for a hot summer day's lunch. :)

Posted by: Jennie on August 11, 2008 10:48 AM

How can I EVER thank you and your dad for the beautiful site and recipes, I have been a foodie all my life, and I am SO pleased to receive updates from your site, but I love to get inspiration from the site also. I am an organic heirloom vegetable gardener in New Zealand and it is my fill my piece of paradise with food for my family, that includes the animals. But, I also want to bring the joy of organic produce to the public here and I have learn't that not many know how to really deal with the vegetables in the 'raw' so I will be testing all your recipes out on my customers!! :) With a few variations, if you don't mind. Zucchini's have taken us over, so it's time for some creative cooking, thank you for a wonderful site. Suzi

Posted by: Suziq on January 25, 2009 11:39 PM

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