Sipping Spanish Wine And Whipping Up Some Gazpacho

Recently we’ve been cooking from Clodagh’s Suppers, a new cookbook from Clodagh McKenna, and we have a few recipes to share, but today we’ll start with her Gazpacho. We’ve been sourcing our tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers from Taves Farms, at the nearby Kitsilano Farmers Market, as they had a jump on the season with their greenhouses, so everything  was coming in delicious and ripe before the field versions. We also received a bottle on Gran Capirete 50 Sherry Vinegar, made from the Palamino grape and utterly delicious, and we already had some Oro del Desierto Extra Virgin Olive Oil on hand, so throw in some garlic, green onion and stale bread and you’ve basically got Gazpacho. I was inspired! Scroll down for her recipe.

Since we we were dining on a chilled Spanish cuisine, we thought we’d also go for some Spanish wine, and decided the Albarino and Basa Blanco worked best this time but sampled the following just to be sure.

Atlantis Albarino 2017

I just love Albarino and this wine did not disappoint. It’s from the Rias Biaxas area in Galicia and it’s elegant with tropical fruit and crisp green apple and lime on the palate with a nice balanced acidity and a lengthy finish. Was perfect with the Gazpacho

Pares Balta Pink Cava

Who doesn’t love something pink and bubbly? Well something delicious pink and bubbly in any case! This cava is 38% Grenache, 32% Parellade and 30% Macabeo and isn’t bright pink, but has a slight cherry tint. You’ll find notes of strawberry, a bit of gooseberry (having just had some recently) and the bubbles are fine and persistent.

Basa Blanco 2017

We’re always finding something we like about Telmo Rodriguez wines and this was no different. The wine is a blend of 85% Verdejo, 10%, Viura, and 5% Sauvignon Blanc. It’s fermented in stainless steel and has grass and mint notes with some lemon, grapefruit and tropical fruit. Loved it with the Gazpacho and would work well with some scallops or clam linguine.

Moving into reds here we now have a spicy, floral number with lots of cherry and plum and earthy notes; full bodied with medium tannins and finish.  The wine scored 92 points with Robert Parker and received gold at the 2017 Decanter Wine Awards. We had it with some sticky, smokey ribs and it was perfect.

Gazpacho with Cucumber & Dill Salsa

(Clodagh’s Suppers, p.71)
SERVES 6

This is so easy to make because it’s really just a case of chopping and blending. The key thing is that
you use very ripe tomatoes that are full of flavor. The best way to ripen tomatoes is to place them
in a brown paper bag with a banana. It sounds odd but it works! And never store tomatoes in the
fridge, as they won’t ripen properly. I try to make this soup a day ahead and keep it in my fridge. It
should be served very chilled. The cucumber and dill salsa adds great texture, and you could also
add some croûtons on top if you wish. When I am having lots of people over for a party, I serve the
gazpacho in small glasses.

2¼ pounds very ripe tomatoes, diced
2 or 3 slices of slightly stale crusty white or sourdough bread, torn into pieces
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and diced
1 cucumber, diced
2 scallions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE SALSA
½ cucumber, diced
2 tablespoons chopped dill
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Place the tomatoes, bread, red bell peppers, cucumber, scallions, garlic, sherry vinegar, and olive oil in a blender (we used Vitamix) and season with salt and pepper. Blend the ingredients until smooth.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for an hour.

To make the salsa, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.

To serve, pour the gazpacho into bowls and spoon the salsa on top.