Combine two-day-old bread with a craving for a cold, light summer soup, and what do you get? Gazpacho, of course! (Did you know that stale bread is a defining ingredient of original Andalucian gazpacho? I didn’t, until a year or two ago, although I’ve been making “gazpacho” for years.)
I have no tomatoes, but I do still have half of the best watermelon ever. Watermelon gazpacho it is, then. We ate this light, bright, refreshing soup with grilled flank steak for the perfect summer supper.
The bread I used was a fairly sour sourdough. If your bread is less sour, you may want to increase the amount of vinegar. Of course, all of the ingredients are to taste anyway.
Watermelon Gazpacho
Yield: 4 – 6 servings
Ingredients:
- 8 c. coarsely-diced watermelon, plus 1 c. finely-diced watermelon
- 1 cucumber, seeded: 1/3 c. finely diced, the rest coarsely chopped
- 1 small yellow bell pepper, seeded: 1/3 c. finely diced, the rest coarsely chopped
- 3 scallions (white and green parts), thinly sliced
- 18 basil leaves
- 1/4 c. olive oil
- 2 T. balsamic vinegar, or to taste
- 1 t. salt, or to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- juice of 1/2 a lime, or to taste
- 2 c. fine sourdough bread crumbs
Method:
- Reserve the finely diced watermelon, finely diced cucumber, finely diced pepper, 1/4 cup of the sliced scallion (green part), and 6 basil leaves for garnish.
- Puree the remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. Chill well.
- Ladle into bowls and top with the reserved garnishes.
This is going to YeastSpotting this week. If you’d like to participate, get the details here.
This looks rockin! Last night I enjoyed an orange/yellow watermelon from the farmer’s market – I think I’ll grab another one this weekend and see how the colors turn out. Thanks for the inspiration!
Fascinating! I had never thought of making watermelon gazpacho. It sounds quite tasty!
looks and sounds delicious!
Ahh man this takes my breath away! I guess after potatoes this would have to be my go to must have never want to be without: Watermelon! My summer glass of water.
But this is beautiful.
I’ve seen a lot of gazpacho recipes recently, but this one looks truly interesting! Wow. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, how awesome is that? It really looks like a regular tomato gazpacho. Do you think you could combine tomatoes with the watermelon?
This sounds really good to me. I’ll have to add it to my variations on savory watermelon dishes to try list.
Gazpacho was the last thing I expected from your blog, but only because I didn’t know the original recipe had bread. Sounds like a really refreshing summer recipe for sure.
this is just what i need when its hot like this..delicious cold soup!!
sue bette, I think yellow watermelon would be beautiful.
Boaz, the taste is definitely sweeter than regular gazpacho but we really liked the sweetness against the other vegetables.
sarah, thanks!
Tanna, I agree there is absolutely nothing like a good summer watermelon. Watermelon agua fresca on a hot day is just necessary.
GirlCanBake, you’re welcome and thanks for coming by!
Nate, sure, that would be good if you want a less sweet soup.
Laura, hope you like it.
Jude, the bread is especially good for the watermelon version to give it some body.
dhanggit, I love cold soups in summer too.
Lovely colour, and beautiful healthy soup! We in India do not use watermelons to cook so this came as a pleasant surprise!