Gazpacho Alentejano (Alentejo Bread and Tomato Gazpacho)

When it gets properly hot here, the kind of humid July we are having right now, I stop turning on the stove until the sun goes down, and this is the soup that gets us through. People hear gazpacho and picture the smooth Spanish version blended silky in a jug, but cross the border into the Alentejo, the sun-baked plains of southern Portugal, and you get something chunkier, brothier and built around stale bread instead of pureed everything. It is closer to a salad you eat with a spoon.

This is a cousin of my sopa de tomate alentejana (recipe on the site), which is the hot version served with a poached egg, but gazpacho alentejano goes the opposite direction entirely, served ice cold with cubes of country bread added at the table so they stay a little crisp instead of turning to mush. Cucumber, green pepper, garlic and a generous pour of good olive oil round it out, and honestly it tastes like the Alentejo itself, dusty fields and all, if that makes any sense.

Lucas was suspicious of a cold soup the first time I served it, quality control officer that he is, but he came around once I explained it is basically a deconstructed Portuguese salad. I make a big jug of this every week from June through August, keep it in the fridge, and ladle out bowls for lunch alongside whatever bread has gone slightly stale on the counter. It is one of the few things in this house that gets more popular the hotter it gets outside.

Gazpacho Alentejano Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes (plus 1 hour chilling) · Cook time: 0 minutes · Total: 1 hour 20 minutes · Servings: 4 · Calories: ~180 per serving

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ripe tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
• 1 English cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped, plus extra diced for garnish
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped, plus extra diced for garnish
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, or to taste
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 2 cups cold water, as needed
• 4 to 6 thick slices day-old country bread or sourdough, crusts trimmed and cut into cubes
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, garlic, vinegar, olive oil and salt. Blend until mostly smooth but still a little textured, not perfectly silky.
2. Thin with cold water, a half cup at a time, until it reaches a light, drinkable soup consistency. Taste and adjust salt and vinegar.
3. Chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days, in a covered pitcher or jar.
4. Just before serving, taste again since cold mutes seasoning, and adjust once more.
5. Ladle into bowls and let everyone add their own bread cubes, extra diced cucumber and pepper, chopped hard-boiled egg, and a final drizzle of olive oil at the table.

Recipe Notes

• Adding the bread at the table rather than blending it in is what separates this from Spanish gazpacho. It should stay slightly crisp, not dissolve.
• Underripe supermarket tomatoes will taste flat here. If yours are not perfectly ripe, add a small pinch of sugar to balance the acidity.
• A proper Portuguese or Italian crusty loaf works best for the bread cubes; pre-sliced sandwich bread turns soggy too fast.
• This keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days, though the color mellows a bit by day two. Give it a good stir before serving.