Summer can be a sad season for those of us who are soup obsessed. A bowl of warm stock layered with flavor and swimming with hearty substance thrills a soup lover’s core. The Texas heat steals this joy.
The bright side of this conundrum is the opportunity to construct lovely and light-bodied cold soups. Market Street provides the best selection of summer’s bounty. Peaches! Tomatoes! Berries! Peppers! Their selection offers home cooks produce abounding in summer’s flavors ready to be turned into chilling soups.
Creating a gazpacho is one of the easiest ways to make cold soup. Chop up raw vegetables, place into a blender and blitz. Rustic gazpacho! However, many think gazpacho is a tomato based soup, but this is not the case. This chilled and blended soup can use a variety of ingredients as the base flavor, not just tomatoes. For instance, tomatillo and peaches.
Tomatillo and Peach Gazpacho is a unique and satisfying cold soup. The sweetness of ripe peaches combined with the tartness of tomatillos and the heat of serrano pepper is thrilling. Together, these three ingredients build a soup that is memorable and easy to build.
The final touch to cold soup is adding texture and brightness. Diced peaches and fresh mint make this soup pop with added crunch and earthiness.
Summer can be soup season and with the help of Market Street’s beautiful selection of produce. With their bounty, you can make the brightest and happiest of cold soups!
Serves 4 to 6
Author note: Peaches can be easily peeled with a vegetable peeler. Note that this recipe requires a 24-hour cold set in the fridge to develop flavor and texture. Serving this soup before this 24-hour period is over will result in an underdeveloped gazpacho.
1 lb tomatillos, paper peels removed and quartered
2 peaches (about 3/4 lb), peeled and quartered
1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded and quartered
1/2 bunch cilantro leaves,
1 serrano pepper, seeded
1/4 cup diced onion
2 cups baguette, crusts removed and cubed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp agave syrup
juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup olive oil
fresh peaches, sliced or diced, for topping
fresh mint, for topping
In a food processor or a blender, blitz the tomatillos, peaches, cucumber, cilantro, serrano, onion, baguette, salt, agave and lime juice. Once combined and with the food processor still running, pour in the olive oil. Continue to blitz until the gazpacho is smooth or to your desired consistency.
Pour the gazpacho into an airtight container and store in the fridge for 24 hours. Serve cold topped with diced peaches and mint.
