Gazpacho Pasta - Rachel Ray

The title of this recipe is what got my attention. Having made and liked gazpacho, putting it into a pasta dish, made sense and was appealing.

"Gazpacho is a cold Spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup, originating in the southern region of Andalusia. Gazpacho is widely consumed throughout Spain, neighboring Portugal (where it is known as gaspacho) and parts of Latin America. Gazpacho is mostly consumed during the summer months, due to its cold temperature and acidic bite." Wikipedia

Gazpacho Pasta - Rachel Ray (some modifications made) Serves 4  See the video here.

Ingredients:

1 pint grape tomatoes
1 medium zucchini, cut into small cubes (In retrospect, I should have made the pieces a little bigger.)
2 tablespoons olive oil,
black pepper
1 pound gluten-free penne
2 stalks celery , roughly chopped
1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves (two large handfuls)
1/2 cup almonds, toasted
A few dashes of hot sauce

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 400ºF and place a large pot of water over high heat to bring to a boil.

Scatter the tomatoes and zucchini onto a baking sheet and drizzle them with about 2 tablespoons olive oil and some pepper. Toss them in the oven and roast until the tomatoes have burst and the zucchini is tender, about 20 minutes. (I should have checked this at 15 minutes.)
When the water is boiling, add some salt and drop in the penne. Cook until al dente, according to the package directions. Before draining the pasta, reserve a cup of starchy cooking water. Drain the pasta thoroughly, then return it to the pot it was cooked in.

Toss the celery, parsley, almonds, zest and juice of the lime into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse everything together until chopped, then stream in the remaining olive oil while the machine is running until it forms a nice pesto. Reserve. Add a little of the reserved water (1 tablespoon) to the food processor and the vegetable will chop more easily.



Once the pasta and veggies are ready, add the roasted vegetables to the pot with the cooked pasta along with the pesto. Throw in the chopped peppers and a few dashes of hot sauce and give everything a good toss to evenly coat.

Turn the pasta out into a serving dish and garnish with scallions, if you like.  This had a bit of a crunch from the nuts and celery which is why, you should take care not to purify the ingredients in the food processor. You want slightly chopped ingredients.

I served this with baked meat balls.