Fresh vine ripened tomatoes and basil!  Spring is here and with that comes one of our favorite dishes - tomato gazpacho.  We also love the fact that it is the easiest recipe to make - literally throw everything into the blender and puree.

Ingredients

Serves 6 as an appetizer

• 3 pounds of vine ripened tomatoes (we used Better Boy tomatoes)

• 1 medium red onion

• 1 English cucumber (seedless kind)

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 1 jalapeno pepper (if you don’t like it too spicy remove the seeds)

• 1 pepper (we used a yellow one but you could use any pepper)

• 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar

• 1 bunch of Basil

• Salt and Pepper

Directions

Quarter tomatoes (we did not remove the seeds) - throw into blender

Cut onion, cucumber, pepper and jalapeno pepper into chunks and throw into blender.

Add garlic to blender

Puree for around three minutes or until it reaches desired consistency (we like ours chunky)

Add rice wine vinegar to taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Refrigerate for at least two hours to maximize flavor.  This can be kept in the fridge for three days or freeze.

To serve: dish into a bowl and add a few leaves of chopped basil.  

Add grilled garlic bread croutons for a bit more substance and a touch of greek yoghurt for some creaminess.

**  As the season goes on you can use any color tomatoes.  Heirloom yellow, green zebra, great white and cherokee purple.  Makes for a rainbow of colored gazpachos.  And if you are having a big party make different ones and serve in big glass bowls!