Cucumber Gazpacho —and a trip to Assisi
We’re starting to see the fruits of our efforts, and with a bounty of vegetables from our garden, I‘ll be posting more recipes that use them. This post brings you a wonderful gazpacho that could be rightly called green gazpacho, a cucumber gazpacho that includes not only cucumber but also avocado and some other fruits of our garden: green pepper, jalapeño, basil and parsley. You see? A green gazpacho!
After Part 1 of the vegetable garden (and given today’s recipe for cucumber gazpacho) I should have probably posted about the next steps of construction, or Part 2. But you have nothing to worry about: if you’re looking for it, I will be writing about it and showing photos of it on the next post. There was too much work involved not to! And in fact, we’ll probably enter into the fall season without having completed the vegetable garden in its entirety —we will be very close to it, though!
But school has started (high school for David and university for Ethan) and the summer is slipping through our fingers. And given that this was the summer of Covid —the summer we didn’t get to visit our family in Spain—, I’ll take a break from the garden and reminisce about part of our last year’s summer trip.
View of Basilica de San Francesco from the road
David holding the valley. Below, XV century arcade in the piazza of the lower basilica
In the summer of 2019, my sister was a visiting professor at the University of Perugia, and I had the chance to visit her for a few days, with my mom and my youngest son. I posted about it before (click here), so today I want to post about Assisi, a city a stone throw away from Perugia, with a wonderful Catholic history that is close to my heart (my sisters and I, my dad and uncle, all attended a Franciscan school) that we visited during our stay. Walking the streets, sitting in front of the tomb of Saint Francis or that of Saint Claire, admiring the beauty of God and man’s creation in the gothic buildings and colorful frescoes, or savoring the delicious Italian dishes of that region, are memories that will stay with me.
Basilica di San Francesco from the upper piazza
ASSISI
The origin of the city of Assisi is lost in history as one of the most ancient civilizations in Italy. The Umbrians settled in the city around 1000 BC. By the year 450 BC, the Etruscans had taken over the city, only to be displaced by the Romans in the year 295 BC. In the year 238 A.D. Assisi was converted to Christianity by Bishop Rufino, who was martyred and whose remains rest in the church of San Rufino in Assisi.
Starting in the XII century and continuing until the XV century, Assisi and neighboring Perugia held bloody wars. It is in one of those battles that Francesco di Bernardone (who later became Saint Francis of Assisi) was taken prisoner, setting in motion the events that eventually led him to renounce the world and establish the order of the Friars Minor. The spirit of Saint Francis is found all over the city and it’s just in his Basilica where his remains rest.
Basilica of Santa Chiara
You can find remains of Etruscan and Roman monuments, as well as Christian temples of all eras, in Assisi. But the buildings and monuments that are truly the heart of the city and the goal and destination of the pilgrims are the Franciscan structures, particularly the Basilica of San Francesco and the Basilica of Santa Chiara (Saint Claire). UNESCO designated the Franciscan structures of Assisi as a World Heritage Site in the year 2000.
After the pandemic is over (we either have a vaccine or a treatment for it) I hope my sister continues to teach at the University of Perugia, because I can’t wait to go back and visit that part of Italy again.
The cucumber gazpacho I’m bringing you today is perfect for this time of year (and perfect to make with all the cucumbers my garden is producing now!) Tomatoes are ripening at a lower pace, so I will be making Andalusian gazpacho later (if you have tomatoes now and want to make it, you can find the recipe here). This cucumber gazpacho, which includes avocado for creaminess and peppers and herbs for color and flavor, is what we’re having for lunch, or for a light and refreshing snack. I added more herbs to mine than the recipe calls for, but even if you use less, make sure to pass it through the food mill to obtain a smoother gazpacho. Add enough olive oil (in my books, err on the side of too much than too little) and accompany it with piquitos camperos (click here) or some good crusty country bread for a very satisfying lunch or first course.
NOTE: I forgot to add the apple, that’s why you see it added later in the photos. Oops!
CUCUMBER GAZPACHO Gazpacho de Pepino
Ingredients
- 3 cucumbers
- 2 avocados
- 1 green pepper
- 1 jalapeño
- 1 apple
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 to 2/3 cups extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbs chives
Instructions
- Peel and dice the cucumber (if you prefer, remove the seeds: cut the cucumber lenthwise and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon).
- Chop the pepper coarsely. Chop the jalapeño and remove the seeds and veins. Peel the avocado, remove the pit and chop coarsely. Peel and chop the apple. Peel the garlic. Chop the basil and parsley coarsely.
- Place the cucumber, green pepper, jalapeño, avocado, apple, garlic, salt and pepper in a blender. Add 1/2 cup water and purée. Add the herbs and the vinegar and blend.
- If choosing to do so, pass through the food mill and discard the solids. Taste and adjust for salt and add more if necessary.
- With the motor running, slowly stream in the remaining oil, blending until emulsified. Taste the gazpacho and season with more salt and vinegar and olive oil as necessary (you want it to be a bit acidic).
- Serve in bowls with a few drops of olive oil and a sprinkle of thinly sliced chives.
August 26, 2020 @ 9:11 am
Natacha, It was lovely to see photos of your trip to Italy, and your narrative of the area as well as Saints Clare and Francis. That is a trip I feel I must also take. But first, I’ll head to the kitchen to try the cucumber gazpacho recipe. Looks delicious for the warm temperatures we are having.
August 26, 2020 @ 10:38 am
Betsy, you would love that area of Italy. I had been to Assisi a couple of times before, when I was younger and still living in Spain, but this time I really discovered it and appreciated it. Perugia was a new discovery, and a few days there were not enough. Definitely, a trip to add to your books.
As for the cucumber gazpacho (and any gazpacho!), I can’t get enough of it these hot days. The perfect summer dish! Let me know how it turns out!
Natacha xx