Spanish Gazpacho is a little different in ingredients. This one uses eggplant and you will become addicted to the flavours of this chilled soup. Trust me, I wouldn’t lead you astray…at least not with this recipe.
- 2 large eggplants, halved lengthwise
- 5 tbsp. olive oil, divided
- 2 lbs. roma tomatoes, stemmed and quartered
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 3/4 cup plain Greek Yogurt
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup tahini paste
- 2 cups water
- extra olive oil, for drizzling
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Drizzle 1 tbsp. olive oil on each of the cut halves of eggplant. Turn over, cut side down and roast for 1 1/2 hours until very tender. Cool and discard the large seed pockets. Scoop the flesh into a bowl, discard the skins and set the bowl aside.
Place the tomatoes in a processor and using the pulse button, process to a coarse puree. Strain the tomatoes into a large bowl and press through to measure 1 1/2 cups of tomato juice. Set the tomato juice aside.
Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a heavy skillet and add the onion and garlic, cooking until the onions are a lovely golden colour. This should take about 25 minutes. Add the cumin, cayenne and pepper and stir for 1 minute. Add the yogurt, tahini paste and lime juice, stir, scraping up any brown bits in the pan. Remove from the heat. Stir in the eggplant to combine.
Place half of this mixture in a blender and while running, gradually add 3/4 cup tomato juice and 1 cup of water. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Repeat this process with the remaining eggplant mixture.
Taste and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate no less than 2 hours or, if pressed for time, make the day ahead. Keep cold. When ready to serve, scoop into individual bowls and drizzle some oil over the top YUMMMMM.
