Rukmini Iyer's quick and easy recipe for watermelon and tomato gazpacho with rosemary croutons

The Guardian

2 days ago

I can't make gazpacho without thinking of Pedro Almodóvar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend that you do, and not just for the iconic spiked gazpacho scene. This version is also spiked, but more tamely with watermelon, which lends a wonderful sweetness. You can go as simple or as extra as you like with the toppings: I, of course, like to go extra with cherry tomatoes of varying colours, ice cubes, micro basil, finely cubed cucumber and a swirl of my best extra-virgin olive oil to finish.
Green pepper haters, you really must include a quarter of one here – it adds the necessary slight bitterness to offset the sweet tomatoes and watermelon.
Prep 20 min
Cook 20 min
Chill 1 hr+
Serves 4-6
For the gazpacho350g cherry vine tomatoes
650g roughly cut fresh watermelon, rind and seeds removed150g cucumber
½ small red onion
2 small garlic cloves¼ green pepper5 slices good-quality white bread, challah ideally 60ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving1 tsp sea salt flakes
For the croutons5 slices good-quality white bread, again, challah ideally, cut into 1½cm cubes1½ tbsp olive oil
½ tsp sea salt flakes
Tips of 6 rosemary sprigs
To serve (all optional)Halved cherry tomatoes – a mix of yellow and orange looks niceDiced strawberries
Finely chopped cucumber
Ice cubes
Sprigs of roasted rosemary
Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. For the croutons, tip the cubed bread into a baking tray with the oil, sea salt and rosemary, mix well to coat, then roast for 20 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.
Meanwhile, tip all the gazpacho ingredients into a food processor and blitz smooth. (I hate to add an extra step, but if you transfer this in batches to a high-speed blender and blitz again, you will get more soup and less pulp after the sieving process.)
Strain the soup in batches through a coarse sieve into a clean bowl – use a wooden spoon and really push all the liquid through, leaving the bits of pepper skin and tomato seeds in the sieve. Once all the gazpacho has been sieved, chill the lot in the fridge for at least an hour.
Serve in shallow bowls topped with your choice of halved cherry tomatoes, diced strawberries, finely chopped cucumber and ice, along with the croutons and rosemary sprigs. Drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil and serve immediately.