Melon Gazpacho

This isn't the first time I've made gazpacho, and it certainly won't be the last. I look forward to making this soup every summer.

Gazpacho:

½ seedless watermelon

½ Santa Claus melon

1 large cucumber

1 large tomato

2 red bell peppers

1 clove garlic

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1.5 tablespoons salt

½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1.5 cups croutons (recipe follows)

Hot sauce to taste (I used Frank’s)

Remove the rind from the watermelon and Santa Claus melon and roughly chop. Peel and deseed the cucumber by cutting it in half lengthwise and using a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Give it a rough chop. Remove the seeds from your tomato, and give it a rough dice. Deseed the peppers and – you guessed it – give it a rough dice. Remove the papery husk from the garlic and dice.

Add all these ingredients to a large bowl along with the vinegar, salt, extra virgin olive oil and croutons. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 to 6 hours.

Add half the contents of the bowl to a blender and blend until you have a smooth soup. Repeat with the second half. Taste and season with salt.

To serve:

Gazpacho

Basil leaves

Black pepper

Prosciutto

Sungold cherry tomatoes, halved

Extra virgin olive oil

Croutons

Ladle some gazpacho in a bowl and garnish with the remaining ingredients.

Croutons:

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed but kept whole

5 sprigs thyme

3.5 cups hearty stale bread

Cut bread into ¾” to 1” cubes. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the oil and the garlic; when the garlic starts to sizzle, add the bread and thyme. Cook until the bread starts to color (5 to 8 minutes? I wasn’t really paying close attention to how long it took, exactly), but be careful not to burn them. Add 1.5 cups to the gazpacho mixture, and reserve 2 cups (let them cool) for serving.