What a beautiful, light and refreshing dish this is! Nothing cools you down on a hot summer day like a bowl of chilled watermelon gazpacho. This recipe is a modern twist on the traditional gazpacho – cold Spanish soup with tomatoes and other raw vegetables, olive oil, vinegar and stale bread. We swap half of the tomatoes for sweet and crispy watermelon, pass on the bread and add mint and feta. The best part? All you need to make the soup is to prep the ingredients, puree them with a blender or a food processor and send to the fridge to chill!
The Flavour Affair:
Tomatoes + Watermelon + Cucumber + Onion + Garlic + Vinegar + Olive Oil + Mint + Feta
Sweet and salty, sharp and tangy, with lots of summer freshness and a mix of textures, this delicious combo truly has it all!
Tomatoes: traditionally, for gazpacho they use plum or Roma tomatoes that are on a sweeter side. However, seeing how we are also adding watermelon, you can opt for any meaty ripe tomatoes, as long as they are not too sour.
Watermelon: go for seedless to save time picking the seeds out.
Cucumber: works great here thanks to its cooling quality and the delicate fresh taste.
Onion and Garlic: sharp and sweet red onion and pungent garlic are great for spicing up summer vegetables and watermelon alike. Just use them sparingly so that the taste is there on the background but doesn’t get too loud.
Vinegar: traditionally, gazpacho is made with sherry vinegar that brightens up the soup with its sweet acidity. Alternatively, red wine vinegar works great here, too.
Olive Oil: a couple of table spoons of olive oil help to emulsify the texture, making it creamier and more luscious. Additionally, a good quality extra virgin olive oil has its own nuances that enhance the overall flavour.
Mint instantly enlivens any dish with its penetrating, eucalyptus-like freshness. It also pairs exceptionally well with watermelon.
Feta cheese is another frequent companion of watermelon in summer salad bowls – so why not use it here? With its briny saltiness and white pops of color, it adds a nice contrast to the soup both taste- and looks- wise 😍 (unless you prefer to keep it vegan, of course!).
Lastly, keep some salt and black pepper at hand for seasoning the soup to your taste.
Preparation tips for Watermelon Gazpacho:
- Peel the tomatoes. Simply cut them in half and pour boiling water over. Leave for 3-5 minutes, submerged, after which the skin will practically come off on its own. Peeling tomatoes improves the texture of gazpacho.
- Use sweet watermelon, preferably seedless. Otherwise pick the seeds out.
- I find that 50:50 ratio of tomatoes to watermelon works best: you can definitely taste the delicate flavour of the watermelon without the soup being too sweet.
- You don’t need to bother with cutting the vegetables. Just use hand blender of food processor to puree them to a smooth consistency!
- In case you have some stubborn tomato seeds that just won’t blitz, there is one simple trick. Pour the soup into a colander and use a whisker to push the pulp through, leaving the rough bits and bobs behind:
- Cover and send to the fridge. Allow the soup to take its time there – gazpacho should be served cold!
- Save some watermelon and cut it into small cubes for garnish. Juicy chunks of crispy watermelon together with feta crumbles fill every spoonful of gazpacho with even more flavour and texture!
- Decorate the plate with a few mint leaves, drizzle with some evoo and finish off with a couple of grinds of black pepper mill.
Serving suggestions:
You can enjoy this amazing dish as a light meal, with or without some fresh white bread. You could also divide it between smaller bowls and serve as a starter at one of those barbecue parties! Trust me, your guests will be both awed and appreciative of being relieved from some of that summer heat 😀 You can easily prepare watermelon gazpacho a day before – it will just need a quick whisking prior to serving.
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Looking for more light and vibrant summer dishes? Check out these delicious recipes:
Tomato Carpaccio with Vegetable Salsa
Fried Eggplant with Cherries and Burrata
Purslane and Pomegranate Salad
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Watermelon Gazpacho with Mint and Feta
Equipment
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl
- 1 hand blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 400 g fresh tomatoes peeled
- 400 g sweet seedless watermelon
- 1 small cucumber peeled
- A handful of fresh mint leaves
- 1 small red onion or half of a medium one
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus more for garnish
- 1/2 tsp salt plus more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1-2 tbsp of crumbled feta
Instructions
- Reserve one slice of watermelon for garnish.
- Place the remaining watermelon, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, garlic and mint leaves into a food processor or a large mixing bowl and puree to a smooth consistency.
- Add 2 tbsp of sherry or wine vinegar, 2 tbsp of evoo*, 1/2 tsp of salt and blitz again.
- Taste and adjust for salt and/or acidity. Do not adjust if you are planning to use feta for garnish (since it will add another salty element).
- Cover and send to the fridge for at least 3 hours.
To serve:
- Cut the reserved watermelon into small cubes.
- Divide the gazpacho between serving plates.
- Drizzle with more evoo, garnish with watermelon cubes and sprinkle over crumbled feta.
- Finish off with a grind of black pepper mill.
Notes
- You can prepare watermelon gazpacho a day in advance and keep it in the fridge until ready to serve. Just give it a quick whisk before dividing between plates or bowls.
- You can also use small cubes of fresh cucumber and/or tomatoes for garnish.
