Serves 4
Ingredients
2 pounds of Houweling’s vine tomatoes
1 whole Houweling’s cucumber, peeled
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup cilantro
1 jalapeno
1 medium garlic clove
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lime
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup green onion
4 thin slices of smoky bacon
2 tablespoons pine nuts
Method
Using either a BBQ, a gas stove or a grill pan, grill tomatoes, jalapeno and red pepper for about 5 minutes, until lightly charred. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam for 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, add your bacon to a hot pan and cook on medium heat until crispy. While keeping an eye on your bacon, add the pine nuts to a pan over medium heat and toast for about 5 minutes until golden brown, be careful as they can burn easily.
Set the nuts and bacon aside, now chop up cucumber and garlic clove. Add these to a blender along with the lime juice, sherry vinegar, Worcestershire, cumin, salt, pepper, green onion and most of your cilantro, leaving a few leaves for garnish.
Peel the peppers and tomatoes, it is OK if some of the grill marks are left, add to the ingredients in the blender and blend on high speed for 1 minute. For a smooth gazpacho, you can pass the contents of the blender through a sieve, otherwise you can leave it chunky.
To Serve
Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving. Garnish with thinly sliced jalapeno, cilantro, crumbled bacon and toasted pine nuts.