Smoky Cherokee Purple Gazpacho

A chilled raw tomato soup blended with cucumber, pepper, garlic, and sherry vinegar, deepened with smoked paprika.

  • Serves4
  • Prep20 min
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Ingredients

  • 2 lb dead-ripe Cherokee Purple and Arkansas Traveler tomatoes, cored and chopped
  • 1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp flaky salt
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

Method

  1. Combine the chopped tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, and garlic in a blender.
  2. Add the sherry vinegar, salt, and optional smoked paprika.
  3. Blend on high until completely smooth, then drizzle in the olive oil with the motor running to emulsify.
  4. Taste and adjust the salt and vinegar until the soup is bright and balanced.
  5. Chill the gazpacho for at least 2 hours until cold all the way through.
  6. Serve in cold bowls with a final thread of olive oil on top.
Cherokee Purple carries a naturally smoky, wine-like depth and low acid that makes an unusually rich cold soup, more savory than the usual bracing gazpacho. The dependable Arkansas Traveler rounds out the body and keeps the flavor honest and tomato-forward. Use only dead-ripe fruit here, since a raw soup hides nothing.