Fresh Tomato Juice and Summer Gazpacho Soup

Here’s a simple recipe to make your own tomato juice. Then, you can use it in the Summer Gazpacho Soup recipe, too, which follows, both taken from Vermont chefs Imrie & Jarmusz’s book, Cooking Close to Home. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Tomato Juice:

2 cups roughly chopped tomatoes
½ cup water
½ teaspoon salt

 Ingredients for Summer Gazpacho Soup:

1 1⁄4 cups fresh tomato juice (recipe above)
1 cup finely chopped fresh tomatoes
¼ cup finely chopped onion
½ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
¼ cup seeded and finely chopped cucumber
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
½ teaspoon hot sauce
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon salt

Procedure to make the Tomato Juice :

In a blender, combine the tomatoes, water and salt and puree until smooth.

Place the mixture in a medium saucepan and bring quickly to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and refrigerate.

Yields 1 1⁄4 cups.

Summer Gazpacho Soup Procedure:

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

Yields 4 servings.