Tomatillo Gazpacho (with Lime and Garlic Citrus Paste)

Gazpacho was made for warm weather.  It’s refreshing and light and perfect for no-cooking days.

If you’re not familiar with gazpacho, it’s a cold soup made from blended vegetables. Traditional gazpacho is often blended with bread, but I omitted the bread for leaner and gluten free version and added jalapeño for a little kick. This one is packed with lots of tomatillos, cucumber, onion, lime and citrus paste, and a touch of avocado and jalapeño blended together with olive oil and sherry, strained through a sieve, and chilled.  It’s very simple and once you have all of the ingredients prepped and ready to go, it takes nearly time no time at all.

Tomatillos (also known as the Mexican Husk Tomato)

One of my favorite salsa ingredients has now become one of my favorite gazpacho ingredients.  A tomatillo is a small round, green tomato-like fruit with a papery husk.  They may look like tomatoes, but they’re not tomatoes. Ripe and ready-to-use tomatillos should be bright green and firm.  Any mushy or blemished tomatillos should be discarded.  The husk should also be green, although you won’t be using it, it is another great way to check for freshness.

To prepare the tomatillos, remove the husk and rinse them very well under cold water.  You’ll probably notice a sticky residue underneath the husk, which is normal, but make sure you rinse and wipe each tomatillo dry before using. If you’d like, you can use a small knife or pairing knife to carve out the stem indentation, but it’s not completely necessary. The gazpacho will ultimately be strained through a sieve to ensure a smooth final dish.

Because the tomatillos are prepared raw in this recipe, they’ll hold a tarter and more acidic flavor.  You’ll notice a slightly different flavor profile for cooked tomatillos.

The number of tomatillos you use may vary. I estimated at about a pound but give or take a bit is probably fine. If you’re a visual person, I used 10 tomatillos in total.

Lime & Garlic Citrus Paste

The lime and garlic really brings the garlic flavor and a little bit more acidity to the gazpacho. I got the idea from Heidi Swanson who has a very thorough and mesmerizing post about how to use a ton of citrus. I used the same concept, but with limes instead of oranges and it is heavenly. The citrus paste is very simple, but unfortunately quite difficult to “measure” since you’re using lime peels. Here’s the loose recipe, but feel free to adjust based on the amount of limes you have.

Peel of 4 limes (also peel and discard as much of the white fleshy part as you can)

7 to 8 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

Blend in blender or food processor until the mixture reaches a paste consistency. Refrigerate, and freeze any that won’t be used within a week.