Roasted Pepper & Eggplant Gazpacho (Grain-Free)

I have long been a huge fan of gazpacho. It’s just so fresh, and the flavors, to me, are the essence of summer. In light of our recent news, I thought it would be fun share a couple of my favorite Spanish-inspired recipes with you this week. So let’s start with Roasted Pepper & Eggplant Gazpacho. Although it’s not traditional to have eggplant in this cold soup, I think it works great as a replacement for the stale bread in most recipes. It thickens  the soup really nicely, and adds a great flavor.

Roasted Pepper & Eggplant Gazpacho

What You’ll Need:

• one medium-sized eggplant
• 4-6 medium-sized tomatoes
• 2 sweet red peppers
• 3 cloves garlic, skin on
• 1 small bunch parsley
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• black pepper
• 1/2 cup diced cucumber

In terms of equipment, you will need a blender or a food processor, and a baking sheet.

What to Do:

1. Wash your veggies, and slice the eggplant into quarters. Slice your tomatoes and peppers in half. Place the eggplant, tomatoes, peppers and garlic cloves on a baking sheet, with the vegetables skin-side up.
2. Roast under the broiler on high heat. When the tomato skins begin to char, remove them with tongs and put in the blender. Rotate peppers and eggplant if needed, to get the skins to roast more or less evenly. If something is looking pretty brown and bubbly, take it out and add it to the blender. Once everything is roasted, take the skin off of the garlic, and pour the veggies and any juice that has accumulated in the pan into the blender.
3. Blend the vegetables until smooth. Reserve a few sprigs of the parsley, and roughly chop the rest, including the stems, and add to the blender. Add the red wine vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Blend again, and taste. Adjust seasonings– especially salt and vinegar. Add some water if the soup is too thick, and keep in mind that it will thicken a bit more as it cools.
4. Chill in the fridge, then garnish with the diced cucumber, some parsley and a drizzle of olive oil when it’s time to serve. Enjoy!

P.S. This gazpacho also makes a really nice sauce for zucchini noodles! I am loving using my spiralizer this summer, and adding some roasted chicken for a main meal, or just the sauce as a side dish.