Watermelon Gazpacho

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My love of cold soups began when I first started gardening in Brooklyn. You may not call it gardening, since it was outside the window of my third floor apartment. I had several containers of potting soil on a roof extension and planted things like beets, green beans and herbs. After harvesting a sizable amount of beets, I made a pureed beet soup with yogurt. Thus the beginning of my fondness for chilled soups which led me towards this watermelon gazpacho. Sadly, my gardening efforts were thwarted when my landlord spotted the abundance of pots precariously hanging outside my window.

What is the origin of gazpacho?

Gazpacho is most widely known to be from Spain. It is purported to have come from the Romans who brought it to Spain. There, it is a welcome meal since the summers can be brutally hot and the cold soup is quite refreshing. I have heard that it can be a daily lunchtime preparation and understandably so, since it is so easily made and delicious! For me, it is the toppings and garnishes crunching against the cool, almost creamy, lush vinegar-spiked soup that wins me over. Fresh herbs strewn on top give it nice pops of flavor too. Don’t forget the drizzle of good olive oil and you have yourself one amazing bowl of soup.

Have you tried watermelon in your gazpacho?

If you haven’t tried watermelon or any other summer fruit in your gazpacho, you’re missing out. I especially like watermelon for it’s clean, crisp sweetness. It pairs very nicely with ripe tomatoes and acid. In this case, it’s sherry vinegar but lime juice would work well too. In addition, the white rind tastes similarly to cucumber, so try not to trim away too much of it. Add any fresh, spicy chili to give this a kick.

When looking for your gazpacho ingredients, look for them at farmer’s markets. There, you’ll find produce that has had longer to ripen out in the sun. They’ll be much tastier and perfect for this simple soup with such few ingredients. Also, don’t be shy about choosing the tomatoes that look oversoft, beaten or bruised. While everyone may be passing them up for their salads, these will be perfect for the blender, as you want sweet, very ripe tomatoes. Maybe the farmer will let you have them for a steal too.

Alternate toppings for gazpacho.

While you basically are repeating the ingredients used in the soup for toppings, there are other ingredients that would make nice toppings. Slices of hard boiled eggs, poached shrimp, avocados, olive oil and garlic croutons, almonds or other nuts and seeds (such as pumpkin) would work nicely. A mound of microgreens or micro herbs would be pretty and tasty too. Instead of just olive oil, you could make a basil oil or thin out some pesto for drizzling. There’s no limit on variations with gazpacho. It’s the perfect recipe to experiment with and make use of an overabundant (window) garden or farmer’s market haul.

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