Late Summer Feasts
I finally made one of Mark Bittmans’s cold summer soups that I posted about last month on the blog. On the bike ride home today I stopped by the Riverdale Farmers’ Market, and picked up all the ingredients for watermelon gazpacho. It was quite a challenge bringing a watermelon home on my bike, even though it was the smallest one the farmer I bought it from had!
I adapted the original recipe a bit, since the tomato and watermelon ingredients where stated in pounds, and I do not have a scale here in Toronto. As well, the original recipe does not call for salt. I find salt brightens all gazpacho soups.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup chopped, ripe and fresh heirloom tomatoes
- 3 cups seeded and cubed watermelon
- fresh mint leaves
- 1 diced yellow cucumber (a heirloom variety you can get at a farmers’ market)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Greek goat feta
- salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
Combine tomatoes with watermelon, cucumber (don’t bother peeling it if you are using a yellow cucumber), a handful of mint leaves, olive oil and salt in a food processor. Process until chunky-smooth. Add lemon juice. Garnish your soup with crumbled feta and chopped mint.
I served this with a big slice of Mark Bittman’s no-knead fermented bread I made, slathered with pesto and warmed in the oven, and a glass of white wine.
