(Vegan) Cantaloupe Gazpacho
This vibrant, chilled soup is 100% vegan. Unless, of course, you elect to put crispy cured ham on top. I’m just as happy with big, crunchy hunks of bread fried in olive oil. To keep it gluten free and vegan top with diced veggies, oil, and salt. And while I give exact amounts, don’t stress about them. The grams are included for my detail oriented friends out there (I see you!), but I usually just eyeball it. And for the record, in case you’re a cantaloupe hater (but why?!), you can omit the cantaloupe (or substitute watermelon or peaches), and you’ll still have a wonderful gazpacho!
Ingredients
for soup
- 3 medium ripe heirloom tomatoes around 400 grams
- ½ small ripe cantaloupe around 200 grams
- 1 yellow bell pepper can substitute red (around 200 grams)
- ⅓ large hot house English cucumber or 1 medium regular cucumber (around 200 grams)
- 1 small shallot about 30 grams
- 1 large clove garlic
- big handful of basil leaves and tender stems about 1/2 cup loosely packed
- big handful of mint leaves and tender stems about 1/2 cup loosely packed
- ¼ cup 50 grams very good olive oil
- juice of ½ a lemon about 1 ½ tablespoons
- splash of sherry vinegar about 1 teaspoon
- flaky salt I use sel gris (starting with a teaspoon and adding to taste, usually around 2 teaspoons for me but I love salt so add as you go)
topping Ideas
- olive oil always
- flaky salt
- yogurt or creme fraiche
- small herb leaves
- crispy pan fried prosciutto or serrano ham melon and ham…a classic
- Pan fried Croutons my fave!
- diced cucumber and bell pepper nice crunch
Instructions
- Roughly chop all of the produce. Because you’ll be blending it, there’s no need to be precise or mince anything. We just want chunks that the blender can handle a little easier.
- Combine all of the soup ingredients in a high powered blender and blend, slowly increasing from the lowest speed to the highest, until completely smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. If you’d like it sweeter, throw in a few more chunks of melon and blend until smooth again.
- If your tomatoes and melon are ripe, they should produce enough juice for the perfect consistency, but if you find the soup too thick, you can always thin it with a bit of filtered water until your desired consistency is reached.
- Chill thoroughly before serving (2-3 hours at least), or, if you’d like to serve it immediately, you can add a few ice cubes to each bowl and stir them in to chill before garnishing. Which is what I do because patience isn’t my strong suit with a soup this good, and I like my gazpacho super cold!
Notes
Depending on what color tomatoes and peppers you use, the color of your soup may vary from a slightly rosy pink to yellow to green!