Gorgeous Gazpacho with Ricotta Cream Cheese Puffs

Artist Unknown
Matador, 1925
Silk Screen on Cotton Paper
Origin: Mexico

I’ve really been focusing on freshness and relishing in the sublimity that naturally accompanies this notion. One of the greatest sources of this freshness is the food we choose to put in our bodies and lately, I’ve been spring cleaning. I’ve always adhered to a very strict gluten free diet, but now I’m really focusing on streamlining this by striving for the ultimate diet: organic gluten free. This may seem like a virtual impossibility, but in terms of nutrition, this is an idea more and more of us should go for so that we can give our bodies what they need the most: pure, clean, nutrient rich energy so our bodies can work at optimal levels.

Additionally, May is Celiac Awareness month, so I really wanted to post a recipe that displayed the best the gluten free diet has to offer: layers of pleasure piled on layers of nutrition.

To really drive this idea home, I whipped up a gorgeous gazpacho made with 100% organic vegetables paired with ricotta cream cheese puffs made from 100% organic dairy products.

So go to your local farmer’s market, gather up your ingredients, and make this sublimely delicious gluten free meal and bask in the sun that shines for everyone who suffers from Celiac disease.

Gorgeous Gazpacho

2 large organic cucumbers, de-seeded and diced
4 medium organic tomatoes, de-seeded and diced
1 medium organic onion, diced
1 organic dolce pepper
1 organic jalapeno, de-seeded and diced
1 organic serrano pepper, de-seeded and diced
3 organic red bell peppers, fire roasted, like Mediterranean
¼ cup organic basil, chiffonade
¼ cup organic parsley, finely chopped
2 ½ cups organic very veggie juice, like R. W.Knudsen
3 cloves organic garlic
1/3 cup sherry vinegar
½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, finely ground

For the Garnish:

6 slices organic apple smoked bacon
2 white corn tortillas
½ cup queso fresco
additional parsley for garnish

Prepare all your vegetables and place in a large glass bowl. Toss to evenly distribute.

Pour the very veggie juice, garlic, sherry vinegar, and Tabasco into a food processor and pulse several times. Add slightly less than half of the vegetables to the food processor along with the basil and parsley. Pulse until very smooth. Add the salt and pepper and pulse incorporate. Season to taste.

Wrap the bowl in cellophane and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, prepare your garnish.

Cut the two tortillas in half and then cut each half into thin strips.
Thinly slice the bacon into lardons and fry until crisp. Drain on a paper towel. Keep the heat on the bacon fat and then add the strips to the bacon fat and fry until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and season immediately with kosher salt.

Set aside until ready to serve. Now, prepare your cheese puffs:

All photographs by Knoxy.

Ricotta Cream Cheese Puffs

I love these cheese puffs because they are essentially the rich filling to my grandmother’s cheese ravioli with a scant amount of flour thrown in. Since I paired these with gazpacho, however, I substituted the mozzarella with extra sharp cheddar for a more intense flavor and replaced the parsley with cilantro to better complement this marvelous cold Spanish soup.

2 tablespoons organic cold salted butter, diced

1 tablespoon tapioca flour
1 tablespoon + 1 ½ teaspoons sorghum flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons glutinous rice flour
½ teaspoon guar gum
¼ teaspoon baking powder
scant ½ teaspoon kosher salt
heaping ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon + 1 ½ teaspoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
¾ cup organic whole milk ricotta
1 large organic egg, beaten
1/3 cup organic extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated

In a large glass mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Add the diced salted butter. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flours until there are no longer any visibly large lumps.

Add the cilantro, ricotta and the egg. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until thick and smooth. Stir in the grated cheddar just until incorporated.

Now, using a 1 ½ inch ice cream scoop, spoon the batter onto a cookie sheet that has been lined with either parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.

Freeze the puffs for at least 30 minutes and up to one hour. Bake in a hot 450°F oven for 11-13 minutes. The tips and the base of the puffs should be golden brown.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely, or serve immediately.

Makes 12 puffs.

Garnish your gazpacho first with the reserved tortilla strips, then the bacon and then the queso fresco. Add a pinch of chopped parsley and serve with a couple of the cheese puffs.

Paul Klee
Untitled No. 1, 1940
Oil on Canvas Mounted on Wood
Private Collection
Swiss-German Expressionist Painter