Cherry tomato and chile gazpacho

I love a bowl of cool gazpacho on a hot day- and hot days are plentiful right now.  This delicious recipe from Giada de Laurentiis is cool AND hot- the chiles make it pretty spicy, which I love.  Our polenta croutons didn't really brown, so we thought they were just ok.  I ate the leftover gazpacho the next day with chips as a salsa, so it's a double-duty recipe!

CHERRY TOMATO AND CHILE GAZPACHO

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

Gazpacho:

1 pound ripe cherry tomatoes (about 4 cups)

2 medium cucumbers, peeled and chopped

1 jalapeno chile, stemmed, seeded, deveined, and coarsely chopped

1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, deveined, and coarsely chopped

1 large shallot, coarsely chopped

1 clove garlic, smashed

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 to 3 teaspoons hot sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning

Croutons:

Vegetable oil, for frying

1/2 tube (9 ounces) store-bought, pre-cooked polenta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I found this in the organic section at Kroger)

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan

Instructions

For the gazpacho: Place the tomatoes, cucumbers, chiles, shallot, garlic, vinegar, hot sauce, and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, to taste. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until ready to serve.

For the croutons: In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour enough oil to fill the pan with 1 inch of oil. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 375 degrees F. (If you don't have a thermometer, a cube of bread will brown in about 3 minutes.)

Working in batches, carefully add the polenta cubes and fry, stirring occasionally to keep the cubes separated, until golden brown, about 2 minutes.  Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with the Parmesan.

To serve: Ladle the gazpacho into 4 soup bowls and top with the polenta croutons.