Watermelon and Tomato Gazpacho

I’m not sure there are two fruits more  indicative of summer than watermelon and tomatoes. Is there anything better on a hot summer day than cracking open a watermelon and eating slices of it over the sink? Juice dripping down your chin, the crystals of sweet sugar bursting on your tongue, pausing only to dispatch seeds. Ah, summer. Unfortunately, it appears we just might be done with summer around here these days. The weather forecast for the next ten days doesn’t show one day over 70. We can pretend it’s summer a little while longer though by having watermelon gazpacho for lunch, even if we have to have it while wearing wool socks.

Watermelon Gazpacho

Serves 6

• 6 cups or about 2 lbs of watermelon, cut into chunks
• 5 medium tomatoes (about 1.5 pounds)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp chipotle sauce (Zane and Zack’s)
• 1 cup toasted almonds
• 1/2 cup diced cucumber (1/2 of one medium cucumber) for garnish
• 1/2 cup diced onion (1/2 of one medium onion) for garnish
• Salt to taste

1. In a blender or food processor, process 1/2 of the watermelon and transfer to a large bowl.
2. Process the rest of the watermelon with the tomatoes, garlic, paprika, balsamic vinegar, chipotle sauce, and toasted almonds.
3. Combine all processed ingredients in the large bowl and stir to combine.
4. Season to taste with salt. We tested several different salts and settled on Secret Stash Salt’s Smoked Chipotle salt.
5. Serve, topped with a little bit of the diced cucumber and diced onion.

Notes: Be careful when blending or food processing the watermelon. Don’t overfill the food processor as the watermelon will expand a bit once pureed. If you have a small food processor or blender, there’s no harm in blending a cup or two of ingredients at a time and then combining them at the end. If you want to blend them further, use an immersion blender in the large bowl.

I was a little surprised at the almonds in this recipe. Even though I used the immersion blender and our food processor, the almonds weren’t 100% pulverized, so the soup has a little bit of a texture. If you’re expecting a completely smooth soup, this won’t be for you, but if you don’t mind a bit of texture, I think you’ll really like the almonds. They also give the soup a bit of protein. I loved this gazpacho and if I can pick up another watermelon this weekend, I just might make it one more time before I let go of summer and pull out the sweaters and gloves.

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Tagged as: almonds, cucumber, garlic, onion, paprika, tomatoes, watermelon