Watermelon Recipes for Hot Summer Days

The summer of 2018 has been a scorcher almost all over the world it seems. The heat has finally broken here in Amsterdam, but I am still enjoying the heat relief recipes of the last two months—easy, no-cook and thirst-quenching recipes for gazpacho and lemonade that both feature watermelon as a key ingredient.

Watermelon is a bit of a problem for a single person. I can buy a half or a quarter from the local greengrocers, but that's still a lot of watermelon, and in the heat, it has to be kept in the fridge. Making a batch of soup and/or lemonade is a great way to use it up quickly, and with a bit of room in the freezer, I can freeze it too. (Although the lemonade never made it that far!)

These days, you can often find (almost) seedless watermelon, but if you can't make sure you remove the seeds before blitzing chunks of water melon for both the soup and the lemonade.

Watermelon Gazpacho

Gazpacho, the cold soup of Spain, is always popular in hot summers. Truth to tell, I am not that fond of tomato gazpacho, but you can wake me up for this one. The secret is in the sweetness provided by the watermelon, which is balanced out by the acidity of the tomatoes and sherry vinegar, and the mild punch of the chili pepper. I served it to a friend who had already had a glass of the watermelon lemonade yet could not bring home the slight sweetness in the soup that I served as a first course.

There is no need to be precise about measurements with this recipe. Just make sure you taste it to get a balance you like. If it is too sweet, add a bit more vinegar and/or vegetables; add more chili pepper salt and pepper to taste. You will need a food processor or blender.

Adapted from Gazpacho (met Watermeloen)
Serves 2-3 as a meal, or more if served as appetizers or amuses
Keeps well for 2 days in the fridge.

Soup:

300 g watermelon, rind removed  (about 2 thick slices of a quarter watermelon)
300 g ripe tomatoes (about 1 1/4 large beefsteak tomato)
130 g cucumber (about 1/3)
1 clove garlic
1/2 chili pepper, or 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (I used Aleppo chili flakes)
1 slice stale bread, crust removed
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
2 tablespoons good olive oil
salt and pepper

Garnish:
1 spring onion, finely sliced
20-40 gr cucumber, finely diced
sliced mint leaves

1. Roughly chop the watermelon, tomatoes, and cucumber and put in the bowl of the food processor.
2. Remove the crusts from the bread and cut into cubes, and add to the vegetables.
3. Add the garlic, vinegar, and olive oil, salt and pepper, then blitz until everything is finely ground.
4. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
5. Chill for 1-2 hours until it is really cold. If time is short, serve it over a couple of ice blocks.
6. Pour into bowls and garnish with the chopped sprint onions, diced cucumber, and mint leaves.

Watermelon Lemonade

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

This recipe uses simple syrup instead of plain sugar because it is pre-dissolved and mixes more easily. To make simple syrup, heat equal weights of sugar and water in a small sauce pan until the sugar is completely dissolved. I use 150 g sugar and 150 ml water. This yields enough for several batches of lemonade, and in a hot summer with lots of watermelon to use up, I make a batch every couple of days!

60-70 ml lemon juice (juice of approx. 2 lemons)
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind
200 ml watermelon, rind removed  (about 2 thick slices of a quarter watermelon)
2 tablespoons simple syrup
200 ml cold water, flat or sparkling

1. Clean the lemons and grate the lemon rind. (Save the extra lemon rind in a small jar in the freezer for other recipes.)
2. Roll the lemons around to release the juice (or heat a 15-3 seconds in the microwave) and then juice the lemons. Pour though a strainer to remove the seeds, but use as much pulp as you can.
3. Roughly chop and de-seed the watermelon, then blitz all the ingredients except the water using a blender, wand blender, or food processor. 
4. Taste, and adjust the flavour by adding more simple syrup if you like it sweeter, or lemon rind and/or juice if you like it less sweet. At this point, it is a concentrate that you can store in the fridge. 
5. To serve, pour a glass half full and add an equal amount of cold water and some ice cubes. Aaaah!