Gazpacho is a wonderful cold soup to sip while the weather is still warm and winding down into fall, and this recipe is a great use of that giant watermelon in your fridge that isn't being eaten fast enough. Sweet but with a hint of spice, I loved to sip this as an accompaniment to dinner or with a light lunch.
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh basil leaves
4 whole cloves (or a pinch of ground cloves)
2 whole star anise
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 plum tomato, peeled and chopped.
3 cups watermelon (about 1 pound), chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 cup of 1 inch slices of peeled and seeded cucumber
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 red Thai chile, minced
Salt and pepper
In a small pot, bring the basil leaves, cloves, star anise, bay leaf, sugar, and salt to a boil with 1 1/2 cups of water. Stir until the sugar melts, and then remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
Once the syrup is cooled, strain it through a fine mesh sieve, pressing on the leaves to get the most flavor out of them. In a blender, combine the watermelon, tomato, cucumber, lime juice, chile, and syrup.
Blend until smooth. Season with more lime juice, salt, and pepper. Divide among bowls and garnish with pepper and fresh chopped basil.
To peel a tomato, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Make a slice in the bottom in the shape of an x and drop into the boiling water for about 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and plunge into cold water. The skin will peel off easily.
Makes 4 servings
Adapted from Bon Appetit
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