Cold soups are a great way to stay cool in the summer. We’re huge fans of gazpacho, a cold soup made of everything summer: tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, and peppers.
So why not add watermelon to the mix? We’d been dying to try this idea since we saw it in a cookbook back in December. Finally, with summer in full swing, we could put the huge watermelon we found at the market to use.
This soup was surprisingly delicious! Pairing watermelon with tomatoes, cucumbers, shallots and hot sauce sounds a bit unexpected (kind of like pairing it with beans and feta cheese), but it’s quite refreshing, with the savory ingredients just the right balance for the sweet.
We enjoyed this as a starter for a summer-themed meal with friends, along with tomato basil soba noodles and some fresh corn muffins, which we hope to share soon. We ended the meal with a riff on our blueberry and sweet corn sundae. It was a great way to celebrate the season!
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Watermelon Gazpacho
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Yield: 4 to 6
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Pin RecipeIngredients
- 8 cups watermelon, cubed (ours was half of one 16-pound watermelon)
- 1 medium cucumber
- 1 medium tomato
- 2 medium shallots
- ¼ cup loosely packed basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- A few dashes hot sauce
Instructions
- Chop the watermelon into rough cubes. Place it in a blender and blend (the blended amount should fill a 1 ½ quart blender). Pour into a bowl or container, and set aside.
- Cut the cucumber in half; remove the seeds by scooping them out with a spoon. Peel the cucumber halves, then roughly chop them into a few smaller pieces. Roughly chop the tomato into quarters. Cut off the ends of the two shallots and peel them; cut them into quarters.
- Place the cucumber, tomato, shallots, and ¼ cup loosely packed basil leaves into the pitcher of the blender. Blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into the container with the watermelon mixture and mix them with a spoon until fully combined.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and a few dashes hot sauce. Place in the refrigerator and chill for about 2 to 3 hours, until cold. If desired, garnish with a few drops of olive oil.
About the Authors
Sonja Overhiser
Cookbook Author and writer
Sonja Overhiser is author and recipe developer of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the “best vegetarian cookbooks” by Epicurious, and a recipe developer and healthy & sustainable food advocate behind the award-nominated food blog A Couple Cooks.
5 Comments
Courtney Jones
August 8, 2012 at 11:36 pmWow! Gorgeous photo. I love the colours :)
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
August 9, 2012 at 6:31 amThis soup looks so easy! I love ordering gazpacho, but have never made it myself. Yum!
kitchen essence
August 12, 2012 at 12:04 amI like the flavours paired together… their so… unexpected.
rober
August 18, 2012 at 2:05 amHi,
i´m from spain and gazpacho has no basil.
I also do this soup, but try it with mint.
Juan C. Camargo
August 21, 2012 at 3:18 pmI dont use shallots either