Printable Recipe: "Garnish Your Own" Gazpacho Bar Recipe

"Garnish Your Own" Gazpacho Bar Recipe

Gazpacho has always been one of my favorite summer appetizer recipes-- there's almost nothing as refreshing as this wonderful chilled soup in the heat: smooth, fresh, healthy, tangy, and wonderfully appealing. And it can be really fun to eat when you let your guests garnish it however they like.

The arrangement below is one of the most popular ways to serve gazpacho in nicer restaurants in Spain. Simply dish up small glass cups of gazpacho with little spoons (or your guests can just drink it) and offer a variety of different garnishes. Each garnish will make the gazpacho taste a little different, and bring out its ingredients in different ways.

One of my favorite gazpacho recipes is this watermelon gazpacho. But you can use whatever gazpacho you like. However, keep in mind that many North American gazpacho recipes are rather chunky and salsa-like. That's not what you want-- and not how they eat it in Spain. Go for a smooth gazpacho instead (like the watermelon gazpacho recipe I link to above) for the best results.

Ingredients:
1 recipe prepared smooth (not chunky!) gazpacho, and

Your Choice of:
Chopped, peeled, seeded cucumber
Chopped green melon
Chopped seedless watermelon
Chopped, peeled peach
Chopped red pepper
Chopped young onion or green onion
Small garlic croutons (a must-have!)
Chopped green pepper
Chopped ripe tomato
Chopped ripe avocado
Salmon roe
Chopped hard-boiled egg
Chopped or slivered Spanish jamón
Chopped cooked shrimp
Creme fraiche
Flavored olive oils

Instructions: 1. Make sure the gazpacho is very cold. Keep the serving bowl on ice or keep each individual cup in a tray of ice.

2. Choose a variety of garnish options. You'll definitely want to include small garlic croutons, as they're wonderful with gazpacho. Set your garnishes out prettily near your serving bowl or tray of already-served gazpacho.

3. Let guests grab a small glass (even a shot glass) of gazpacho or serve themselves from a larger serving bowl. They'll pick and choose among the different garnishes to make this summer appetizer recipe their own.