Pineapple Gazpacho
Pineapple Gazpacho
This chilled gazpacho brings some sweet heat and is the perfect treat for a hot summer day.
Ingredients
- 1 green heirloom tomato, cored, seeded and cut into large chunks
- 1 avocado, cored
- 2 cups chopped seedless cucumber
- 4 cups chopped pineapple
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and coarsely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp fresh lime juice
- 1⁄2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
- 4-5 small ice cubes (optional)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1-2 tsp Himalayan pink sea salt
- Ground black pepper
- Olive Oil, for drizzling
Directions
- Step 1 In a food processor, pulse tomato and avocado with 2 cups each of pineapple and cucumber. Then add 2 tablespoons of jalapeño, the lime juice and salt and process at high speed until smooth.
- Step 2 Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary (because the sweetness of pineapples varies), and add additional jalapeño and salt to taste.
- Step 3 Add the cilantro, ice (if you want) and additional seasonings. Pulse the processor quickly a few more times—the gazpacho should remain somewhat chunky.
- Step 4 Serve immediately (add additional ice and adjust seasoning if not cold enough), or chill in a covered container in the refrigerator. Garnish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and chopped pineapple and cucumber.
We are in the midst of a crazy heat wave, with no signs of letting up any time soon, which means we’re all desperate for ways to cool off. Well, I’ve got one for you: gazpacho! It’s the perfect solution to the “it’s so hot I don’t even want to turn on the oven” quandary and it’s just so darn refreshing. You can’t go wrong with your standard tomato gazpacho, but on this particular day, I was craving sweet. Since watermelon gazpacho is all the rage right now (will definitely experiment with that soon!), I thought pineapple might also be a great match. We also happened to have a fresh pineapple just calling my name from the fridge so why not?!
The pineapple’s sweetness against the smoky heat of the paprika and jalapeño is a great contrast in this recipe. The cucumber and the avocado then work in harmony to mellow out the flavors so nothing is too overpowering. Because of the high water content of the pineapple and cucumber (did you know pineapple is 87 percent water!?) you don’t even need that much ice to lighten this either. A lot of other gazpachos call for cupfuls of ice, which in my opinion can ruin the texture of the soup, but not ours! If you’re craving that extra chill, just put the gazpacho in the fridge before serving. I felt my batch was fine to serve at room temperature however.
This soup is the ultimate refreshment on a stifling hot day and the ultimate crowd pleaser. And I would totally serve up small cups of this as aperitifs for a summer bbq. Since today might break 100, I’m glad I have some leftover for a lunch time treat. This is one recipe you’ll want to keep in your back pocket all summer long!
