Dinner tonight! Thomas Keller’s gazpacho

Soup on a hot day? If it’s a chilled soup, you bet! This gazpacho from Thomas Keller, featured as part of a Master Class on soups, is a perfect way to beat the heat. And it’s substantial enough to be a meal on its own.

The soup itself comes together in less than 30 minutes. The recipe calls for chilling it overnight before blending and serving; this helps the flavors to develop and marry, though I’ve made it just a few hours before serving and the flavors are wonderfully vivid and fresh.

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Gazpacho

Total time: 20 minutes, plus overnight refrigeration time

Servings: Makes about 1½ quarts soup

1 cup chopped red onions

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 cup chopped English cucumber

1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 cups tomato juice

Sprig of thyme

In a large bowl, mix together the red onions, green bell pepper, English cucumber, tomatoes, garlic, salt, cayenne, tomato paste, white wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, tomato juice and thyme. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove the thyme and blend the soup in a blender until it is smooth; you will have about 1½ quarts of soup. For a smoother texture, strain the soup; this will yield slightly less than 1 quart.

Each of 6 servings: 175 calories; 2 grams protein; 13 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 14 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 9 grams sugar; 618 mg sodium.