Watermelon Gazpacho

Gazpacho is one of those dishes that I haven’t quite acquired the taste for but believe I should as it typically uses such fresh, healthy ingredients. So occasionally I try it to see if my palette has changed. Recently my mother and I ate at Silk City Diner which I heard about from a friend in California! She saw it featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network. As it was a hot day and we were sitting outside on the festive patio, I was inspired to try their watermelon gazpacho. Yum! What I don’t normally enjoy about traditional gazpacho is the acidity and the feeling that I am eating watered down tomato sauce. The sweetness from the melon balanced out any acidity. The soup was thick and smooth with chunks of crab meat providing some additional texture and brininess. The following weekend at the farmer’s market, they were carrying striking, yellow and orange striped heirloom tomatoes and seedless watermelon, so I decided to attempt to make the soup for myself and friends coming to dinner that night. Also available that day were cucumbers and red peppers – some of the other typical gazpacho ingredients.

A quick internet search produced a myriad of recipes. How do I chose???? I started with an image search since I knew what I wanted it to look like. Finally I started with a recipe from chef Tyler Florence, in part because he called for some heat using chiles. I made some changes in the herbs and base ingredients, like using mint as the herb and lime in place of vinegar since I thought it would go well with the sweetness of the melon. Here’s my revised version.

1 large heriloom tomato, diced and seeded (most recipes suggest seeding, not sure it’s necessary).

1/2 jalepeno

1/2 red pepper, diced

2 cups of diced watermelon

juice from 1/2 a lime

1/4 olive oil

2 tablespoons minced red onion

1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

2 tablespoons chopped mint

salt and peper to taste

1/4 crumbled feta

In a food processer, puree all ingredients together except 1/2 the watermelon, 1/2 the mint and the feta. After pureeing add in remaining watermelon cubes and serve topped with the rest of the mint and crumbled feta. This recipe comes out thick and creamy because the oil acts like an emulsifier. The watermelon cubes add texture while the saltiness from the cheese plays well against the sweet melon.

My dinner guests were Michael and his friend, Javier, who was visiting from Barcelona. I was a little nervous serving a variation on gazpacho to a Spaniard, but the recipe was a hit with both. Javier had never had a watermelon gazpacho before and Michael declared it was the best gazpacho he’s ever tried. Perhaps next time I will attempt to make a traditional gazpacho – you never know what you might like, especially when using the freshest ingredients.