Creamy Roasted Tomato Gazpacho

A creamy summer soup that's made with roasted tomatoes, peppers, marcona almonds and thickened with bread.

creamy roasted tomato gazpacho / loveandlemons.com

There’s a soup for all seasons, and summer is no exception. Chilled gazpacho, along with a big salad is my perfect summer dinner. And summer lunch. And dinner again the next night if there happens to be any left.

This is a bit of a twist on a Spanish style gazpacho. I make it numerous ways, always drawing on the memory of the one I had on this day. Sometimes I switch up the peppers, sometimes I make it raw. Sometimes I add a few spices. But I particularly love the subtle smoky flavor that happens when the ingredients are first charred on a dry skillet. Not to mention, it’s a nice fix for less-than-amazing tomatoes.

The one liberty I suggest not taking, is subbing out the sherry vinegar. It has a certain sweetness that I don’t think any other vinegar would bring. If you hate the idea of buying a special bottle of vinegar for one recipe, stay tuned – it’s my latest obsession so I’ll have plenty of other uses for it coming up.

creamy roasted tomato gazpacho

 
Author:
Serves: makes 2 large bowls, or 3-4 smaller
Ingredients
  • 1.5 pounds cluster or roma tomatoes
  • ½ a yellow onion, sliced into a few large pieces
  • 2-3 anaheim or piquillo peppers (or 1 small red bell)
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoons sherry vinegar
  • ¼ cup toasted pine nuts or marcona almonds
  • 1 slice sourdough bread, stale, toasted, or grilled
  • salt & pepper
  • water, as needed, to thin
  • optional toppings: chopped tomato, cucumber, scallion, chile flakes
Instructions
  1. Heat a cast iron skillet, grill pan (or outdoor grill). Dry roast (whole) tomatoes, onion slices, peppers, and garlic (still in it's paper) by placing each directly in the pan, rotating every few minutes until a nice black char marks form all over. You'll probably remove the garlic first, then the peppers and lastly the onion slices and tomatoes. Let everything cool to room temp.
  2. Scrape most of the skin off the peppers, and remove seeds and ribbing.
  3. Over a bowl, core the tomatoes (saving the juice that comes out).
  4. Remove the paper from the garlic and place it into the food processor with the tomatoes, onion, peppers, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
  5. Blend until pureed. Add pine nuts and bread and blend again. Taste and adjust.
  6. Chill at least 1 hour. The longer this sits the better. Taste again & adjust seasonings before serving.
Notes
for extra flavor, I grilled my bread on my cast iron grill pan right after I took the tomatoes off.

33 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Belinda
    09.16.2014

    Sounds delicious! Can I make this a day or two ahead of time? Would love to serve this at a baby shower brunch and need to have it prepared in advance.

    • jeanine
      09.17.2014

      yep – I find that soups taste better the second day anyhow 🙂

  2. Ooooh, I like the idea of the piquillos with the tomatoes — this sounds divine!

  3. Ashley
    08.14.2013

    Is there something I could substitute the bread for (I am gluten free) or would it be ok to just leave the bread out? Thanks!

    • jeanine
      08.14.2013

      Hi Ashley, leave out the bread, taste it, and double the nuts if you feel like you want it more creamy!

  4. Meryl
    08.13.2013

    This looks fantastic…I will definitely be making this soon 🙂 Using bread to thicken is a brilliant idea!

  5. This looks divine. I am obsessed with gazpacho!

  6. Laura from thefirstmess.com
    08.10.2013

    I’m in a strong sherry vinegar phase right now too. There’s nothing quite like it, but especially in gazpacho. So necessary. Excited to see what else you’re doing with it!

  7. dixya from foodpleasureandhealth.com
    08.10.2013

    I have been eating a lot of gazpacho lately, sometimes tomato or watermelon. Roasted version sounds sooo delicious..I have never tried sherry vinegar but balsamic is starting to become my favorite with watermelon ones.

  8. oh this looks gorgeous and delicious! I love the nuts in there for creaminess. Gorgeous, my dear.

  9. Tieghan from halfbakedharvest.com
    08.09.2013

    I love that you grilled the tomatoes and grilled the bread! I bet the flavor is insanely good and I also bet those pine nuts make this super creamy. I love creamy! This look incredible!

  10. Lauren from gourmetveggiemama.com
    08.09.2013

    Yes, please! This uses so much lovely summer produce, and I love the creaminess. I bet the flavor is amazing!

  11. Jane
    08.09.2013

    This looks divine. Must make this before summer’s end! Thanks for sharing 🙂

  12. sarah from sublimedelights.com
    08.09.2013

    That looks amazing! Will make this weekend. I love the bread bended in there for body. Beautiful

    • jeanine
      08.09.2013

      Thanks! the bread really makes it 🙂

  13. Shauna from shecooksmacro.com
    08.09.2013

    Looks so delicious- can’t wait to try it out. Also- the bowls are gorgeous!! Love them!!!

    • jeanine
      08.09.2013

      thanks, they’re my favorite!

  14. Big fan of this version of gazpacho with roasted tomatoes, instead of raw. It looks so creamy! Gorgeous photographs, as always 🙂

    • jeanine
      08.09.2013

      thanks! to me, the creamier the better!

  15. Angie M. from angiemcgovern.wordpress.com
    08.09.2013

    This soup is so pretty. I have been craving tomato soup lately. This looks delicious!

    • jeanine
      08.09.2013

      I usually blanch and peel almonds, but I was too lazy… pine nuts (while pricey) are so much easier 🙂

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.