Gazpacho with celery, cucumber and crispy topping

My take on an Italian classic. This chilled soup can be prepared up to 3 days before serving, store in an air tight container in the fridge until serving! If so, wait with adding the parsley and do so just before serving!

Gazpacho with celery, cucumber and crispy topping

12 buffet portions

Ingredients

1 yellow onion

1 garlic clove

1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated

2 Tbsp tomato puree

2 packages (á 400 grams) whole tomatoes

4 celery stalks

4 dried apricots

8 dl water

1 cucumber

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 handful of fresh parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Topping

1/2 dl mixed seeds, for example pepitas / pumpkin seeds / sunflower seeds

1 celery stalk

1 handful of fresh parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper

How to

Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Fry in a bit of water in a saucepan (preferably a cast iron one as that will add significant amounts of iron to your soup) with the ginger until soft. Slice the celery. Finely chop the apricots. Add the tomato puree, whole tomatoes, celery, apricots and water to the saucepan. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Chop the cucumber and add to the soup. Add vinegar, cucumber and parsley and mix until a chunky soup using an immersion blender. Salt and pepper to taste. Cool completely before serving.

Toast the seeds in a dry pan on medium heat until they start to pop and looks slightly golden. Let cool. finely chop the celery and parsley for the topping, mix with the toasted seeds, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the chilled soup topped with the celery parsley topping.