Watermelon Gazpacho with Jalapeno
Watermelon looms large over our summers...literally. It's cold, liquid, refreshing dirt candy and it sits upon a high throne along side other summer delights such as just picked, tender and bursting sweet corn, and melt-in-your-mouth stone fruit. And then there are tomatoes. Precious, ephemeral jewels that they are. I am guessing that at some point this summer you will have all the ingredients necessary to make this easy (nearly instant!) cold soup. Slurp it up as a light snack, serve with corn chips, plantain chips, or veggie chips, blend the jalapeno right in or sprinkle on top. It's sweet and spicy, you can't go wrong!
I have given the amounts for this recipe in weight because the point is to chop the veggies just enough to get them in the blender together and give the machine a little head start. Large chunks of chilled watermelon, onion and cucumber, along with fresh ripe tomatoes all go popping into your blender or processor for a quick zip around. Season with sherry vinegar, sea salt, a pinch of smoked paprika or chipotle, and a really nice olive oil and you're done. Follow the rough proportions for the produce if you don't have a way to weigh it and everything will be just fine...
See, it's already done. Now get outside and play!
Watermelon Gazpacho with Jalapeno
Ingredients:
- 12 Oz Watermelon, seedless -chilled
- 8 Oz Fresh tomato, larger fleshy varieties are best
- 4 Oz Cucumber, seedless -chilled
- 4 Oz Vidalia onion -chilled
- 1 Tsp Sea salt
- Pinch smoked paprika or chipotle powder
- 1 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh jalapeno as desired
- Plantain chips (corn, sweet potato, etc. are also great)
Roughly chop the cold watermelon, cucumber, and onion into 1 inch thick shapes. Chop the tomato into similar chunks and include all the juice. Place the produce in the pitcher of a blender or food processor and process until the mixture is soupy but with a little texture left. The soup should be similar to a very fine salsa. Add the vinegar, salt, and smoked paprika (or chipotle) and blend briefly to incorporate. Remove the gazpacho from the pitcher into a large bowl and stir in the olive oil.
Remove the seeds from the jalapeno, cut into long, 1/4 inch strips, and then into a very small dice. Garnish each portion of the gazpacho with jalapeno and serve with plantain chips.
Yield: 3.5 C gazpacho.
The soup will keep refrigerated for one week. Before serving, allow the gazpacho to warm slightly after removing from the fridge in order to let the olive oil loosen and for best flavor.