Watermelon Gazpacho

The full size version of this recipe was given to me by a good friend, who is a brilliant innovative cook. It is such a pretty soup, loved by all, so I decided to scale it down and make a canapé sized version. It is very easy to put together, the hardest part is getting all the pesky seeds out of the watermelon. As always, it is a make ahead recipe and the completed soup will sit happily in the fridge overnight. It is suitable for vegetarians, vegans, gluten free and for anyone on a raw food diet – lots of boxes ticked.

Serve very chilled in shot glasses to show off the beautiful colour.

Ingredients - makes 12 canapé sized (depending on size of glasses), or serves 4 as a starter

450gms watermelon, seeds removed and puréed to make a juice 150gms watermelon 1 ridge cucumber 1/2 a red pepper, 70/80 gms 3 or 4 ripe tomatoes 1 salad onion 1/2 green Thai chilli (adjust quantity depending on how much heat you like) Juice of 2 limes 1 small bunch of coriander, to chop and to garnish 10mls grated ginger Salt and pepper

Method

Place the watermelon juice in a large bowl. Now add all the other ingredients, chopping them more finely for the canapé than if you were making this for a starter. Add the rest of the watermelon, deseeded and neatly chopped. Peel, deseed and neatly chop the cucumber, add to the bowl. Add the neatly chopped red pepper (deseeded). Next deseed and chop the tomatoes, you need a finished weight of approximately 100gms. Very finely chop the salad onion, deseed and chop the chilli, finely grate the ginger and add them all. Stir in the juice of the limes and about 20gms chopped coriander.

Finally add 1/2tsp salt and a few grinds of pepper.

Chill well before serving.

Pour the soup into small glasses or shot glasses and add a small sprig of coriander and maybe a small spoon and serve.