Tomato Gazpacho with Lavender

Tomato Gazpacho with Lavender is a spin on a classic gazpacho recipe with a pleasant herbal note from lavender. This refreshing and light soup will be perfect dish for a hot summer day!

Hello folks – how are you doing?

It has been another heat wave here in Nova Scotia for the last three days. That is why I am going to keep it short and sweet today – I cannot tolerate well too too hot and humid days!

Cooking with Lavender

I have already quoted on a few occasions the book “Cooking with Lavender” by Nancy Baggett. This this the only book I have tried multiple recipes from and shared the results on the Havoc In The Kitchen. Perhaps, the best part of this book to me is the section about pairings. Before this book, I was not aware that lavender goes well with so many savoury ingredients. The list is endless, but some of the most unique pairings include pasta (Pasta Salad with Creamy Lavender Sauce), rice (Fried Rice with Lavender), corn (Corn Lavender Chowder), and potatoes (Lavender Roasted Potatoes).

Another quite surprising pairing is… tomatoes! Please be sure to try this Lavender Tomato Chickpea Spread and this Sun-Dried Tomato Lavender Spread. I do believe you will like it!

Tomato Gazpacho with Lavender

I was inspired to make Tomato Gazpacho with Lavender by this book. In fact, it contains a recipe for Roasted Winter Tomato Soup with Lavender Herb Blend (which I still need to try!) Anyway, I though why not making a cold version for summer? And I was not wrong as the soup turned out delicious and refreshing!

To make it, you will need simple ingredients such as fresh tomatoes (although good quality tinned would work too), sweet red peppers, cucumbers, red onion, and bread. You will also need olive oil, sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, a bit of smoked paprika, and salt. And dried lavender buds, naturally!

The best part about any gazpacho is that you do not need to cook anything. Just combine all the ingredients in a blender and pure. But keep in mind you should refrigerate it for at least two hours (the longer, the better), so please plan accordingly.

I hope you like this Tomato Gazpacho with Lavender, and you will give it a try. If you try it, let me know in this post or send me an Instagram message or share you photos adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen.

Cheers!

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Tomato Gazpacho with Lavender

Recipe by Ben | Havocinthekitchen

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Soups for Every Season

Servings

6-8

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Chilling time

2-4

hours

Tomato Gazpacho with Lavender is a spin on a classic gazpacho recipe with a pleasant herbal note from lavender. This refreshing and light soup will be perfect dish for a hot summer day!

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Ingredients

• 2 pounds (900 gr.) ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

• 2 large sweet peppers, cored, seeded, and roughly chopped

• 1 English cucumber, peeled and chopped

• 1/2 small red onion, peeled and chopped

• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1-2 slices (30 – 50 gr.) of stale bread; I used baguette

• 1/4 cup (60 ml.) extra virgin olive oil

• 2-3 tbsp. (30-45 ml.) sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

• about 1 cup (250 ml.) of water, more or less to taste (optional)

• 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. dried lavender buds

• 1 tsp. salt or more, to taste

• black pepper, to taste

• 1/4 – 1 tsp. smoked paprika

• few cherry tomatoes, for garnish

Directions

• Soak the bread in the combination of the olive oil and balsamic for 10 minutes.
• Rub the dried lavender between your fingers as the blender will not mince it well.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onion, garlic, bread mixture, and spices, including the lavender in a blender. Blend until smooth. The consistency will be thick (although that depends on juiciness of your veggies); add water to loosen it up to your taste or keep it as it is. Run the blender once again to blend.
• Chill the gazpacho for at least 2 hours – better 4. Serve the soup garnished, as desired (optional); I used simply a few halved cherry tomatoes. Enjoy!