Watermelon Gazpacho
In the heat of summer, there is no better way to start a meal than with a nice watermelon gazpacho. A small serving of a sweet, cool soup with that incredible combination of summer flavors: watermelon and mint. This gazpacho is cool, refreshing, and screams healthy at you while you sip it–preferably with a mojito or mint julep on the side to counterbalance all those nutrients.
This recipe will first be posted in January, which is neither hot nor watermelon season for my part of the world, but it is definitely one to put in your back pocket for later. And for those of you in the southern half of the globe, you’re welcome.
Watermelon Gazpacho
Ingredients:
3 cups watermelon, cubed
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
3 roma tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
½ red onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup mint, lightly packed
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cumin
1 cup stale bread, soaked and drained (optional)
Directions:
A little bit before you are ready to make your gazpacho, submerge your stale bread in a bowl of water. It takes a few minutes to rehydrate. While the bread is rehydrating, you can prepare the rest of your ingredients.
Peel, seed, and coarsely chop all your vegetables and toss them in a blender with the spices and oil. When this is done, take the rehydrated bread, squeeze out most of the water, and toss this in the blender as well. You can make the gazpacho without the bread, but it will not have the same silkiness.
Blend the ingredients until silky smooth. You want them beautifully pureed to ensure you are getting as much as possible out of your vegetables.
Next you will strain the gazpacho. Pour the soup in batches through a fine sieve. This part is technically optional, but if you do not strain the gazpacho it has what I consider to be a very unpleasant mouthfeel. With each batch, get as much liquid through as you can and then rinse the solids from the sieve.
Once the gazpacho is all strained, place it in the fridge for an hour or two (or much longer) to allow the flavors to meld and the soup to chill.
Best served in small portions (~6 oz.) with a few crunchy bits on the top, such as croutons.
Enjoy!
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