I like soup. My wife also likes soup (really, who doesn’t?) except in the summer. “It’s too hot for soup,” she’ll say. I kind of understand her reasoning. A nice hot bowl of soup will warm you up on a cold winter day, so it stands to reason that it’ll do the same on a summer day when you might want to cool down instead.
Enter Chilled Watermelon Soup. I know, it sounds a little strange, but give it a chance. If you look at the recipe, it almost sounds like a nice watermelon drink served in bowl, except that it’s topped with feta cheese (feel free to substitute another kind of cheese if you’re not a feta fan). It also has white wine in it. Oh, suddenly you’re all Chilled Watermelon Soup fans. I see how it works.
CHILLED WATERMELON SOUP
INGREDIENTS
6 pounds yellow or red seedless watermelon, diced (9 cups)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup lightly sweet white wine (such as Riesling) or 3/4 cup water mixed with 1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
8 teaspoons crumbled feta
1/4 cup sparkling wine (or sparkling water)
DIRECTIONS
Combine 1 cup of the watermelon with mint and sugar in a bowl. Set aside. Blend remaining 8 cups watermelon, lemon juice, wine, and ginger in a blender until smooth. Let sit 1/2 hour. Strain soup; divide among 8 bowls. Top each with 1/8 cup reserved watermelon and 1 teaspoon feta.
If anyone tries this, let me know how it turns out or what you added to it – like more white wine – to make it more awesome than it already is.
(Recipe courtesy of Epicurious.com. Photo by Evan Sklar.)