I always thought Gazpacho was a Spanish thing, but….

My research tells me that Roman soldiers could well have been the ones to start off the cold soup craze…

With soldiers turning rations of bread, garlic & vinegar into a cold soup!

But Yes…

It was the Spanish of the Andalusian region – an autonomous community of Spain…

That evolved it into the version we are familiar with today.

By adding veggies & almonds and pounding them together with the base ingredients…

Creating a more flavoursome soup than the poor Roman soldiers were used to!

Over time…

As the soup spread across Spain & Portugal…

Tomato became the base of the soup after Christopher Columbus brought the fruit back to the continent!

And nowadays watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumber & all sorts of herbs, fruits & veggies are added…

As people all over the world enjoy their version of Gazpacho.

We’re sure you’ll enjoy ours!

Buon appetitio

Or as they say in Spanish

Buen apetito!!

– – – – – – – – – –

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the Soup

3 cups watermelon chopped
1 Lebanese cucumber trimmed & chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
½ long hot red chilli chopped (optional)
½ red onion diced
1 celery stick chopped
3 tbsp coriander chopped
1 lime juiced
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Sea salt
Cracked pepper

For the Garnish

½ long red chilli sliced diagonally (optional)
½ cup watermelon chopped into little cubes
½ Lebanese cucumber chopped into little cubes
2 tbsp coriander chopped
¼ red onion diced
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Sea salt
Cracked pepper

Method:

Place all ingredients for the soup, except the olive oil, into a blender and blitz until combined.

Slowly add in the olive oil and blend until smooth.

Place in the fridge to chill for 3-4 hours.

In a bowl, add all the garnish ingredients, except for the chilli, season with salt & pepper and mix well to combine.

Divide the soup into bowls, garnish with the garnish mixture, add the red chilli, drizzle with some olive oil & serve!!

Note: If you can get your hands on some, you could use jalapeno’s in place of the long red chilli.