Italian Style Tomato and Watermelon Gazpacho | Gazpacho di Pomodoro e Anguria

Sep 30

11 min read

Gazpacho di Pomodoro e Anguria (Italian Style Tomato and Watermelon Gazpacho)

Tomato and watermelon share one virtue and one problem. Both are sweet and mostly water, so together they taste of nothing or of the best August afternoon. This Italian gazpacho takes the second road: no bread, plenty of olive oil, basil, a sharp splash of vinegar and shards of salted ricotta. Cold, savory, bright.

Yield: 6 servings. Prep: 30 minutes. Drain: 20 minutes. Chill: 3 hours. Total: about 4 hours. Difficulty: easy. Course: first course or antipasto. Region: the Italian summer table.

The Story

Gazpacho is Andalusian, and the Spanish have never forgotten it. The original cold soups of southern Spain were built from bread, garlic, olive oil and vinegar, and the tomato only joined them after it crossed the Atlantic in the sixteenth century. Italy received the same fruit in the same period, and for a long time regarded it with suspicion, even fear, as an ornamental plant of the gardens of Florence and Naples before it ever reached a pot.

Italy has its own cold and lukewarm summer tradition, and it is a real one. Tuscany serves pappa al pomodoro and panzanella at room temperature, and the peasant kitchens of the south built whole meals from ripe tomatoes, olive oil, a little onion and whatever bread was left. What Italy never developed was a blended cold soup with a name of its own. This recipe is not a claim that it did. It is what happens when an Italian cook, given a Spanish idea, reaches for Italian ingredients.

The watermelon is the Sicilian contribution. It arrived on the island during the centuries of Arab rule, and it has been part of the summer there ever since. In Palermo, anguria is sold from roadside stalls stacked with striped fruit, chilled in tubs of water and cut open on request, and the dessert called gelo di mellone, a scented watermelon pudding made for the July feast of Santa Rosalia, shows how seriously the island treats it. Sicily also gave us ricotta salata, the firm, dry, salted sheep milk cheese that is grated over pasta and crumbled over tomatoes, and that salty edge against sweet watermelon is an old pairing at the Sicilian table.

Sicilian cooks also know that a slice of cold watermelon is eaten with something salty, and that instinct is the reason a soup like this can work at all. Put the two together and you understand why the dish works. Tomato brings acidity, savor and the umami of glutamates. Watermelon brings sugar, fragrance and a cool, almost floral top note. Olive oil ties them together and basil lifts the whole. The soup is closer to a liquid version of the caprese salad, a chilled tomato, basil and oil preparation, than to any Spanish original, which is the best defense of calling it Italian. Served in the heat of a Sicilian or Apulian summer, when nobody wants to stand near a stove, it needs no apology.

Ingredients

For the soup

Very ripe tomatoes, such as Roma, San Marzano or vine ripened, 2 lb (900 g)
Seedless watermelon, rind removed, cubed, 12 oz (340 g)
Cucumber, peeled and seeded, 1/2 medium (100 g)
Red bell pepper, seeded, 1/2 small (60 g)
Shallot, 1 small (30 g)
Garlic clove, small, 1
Extra virgin olive oil, 1/3 cup (80 ml)
Red wine vinegar, 1 1/2 tbsp (22 ml)
Fine sea salt, 2 tsp (12 g), plus more to taste
Fresh basil leaves, 1/2 cup lightly packed (12 g)
Calabrian chili, seeded and minced, 1/4 small (optional)
Fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp (5 ml), to adjust at the end
Cold water, 2 tbsp (30 ml), only if needed to loosen

For the basil oil

Fresh basil leaves, 1/4 cup (6 g)
Extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup (60 ml)
Fine sea salt, 1 pinch
Water for blanching, 4 cups (950 ml)
Ice water, for shocking the basil, 2 cups (475 ml)

For finishing

Ricotta salata, 2 oz (55 g)
Watermelon, cut in tiny dice, 1/4 cup (40 g)
Cucumber, cut in tiny dice, 2 tbsp (20 g)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Finely grated lemon zest, from 1/2 lemon
Fresh basil leaves, small, torn, 8 to 10
Thin grissini, or crisp breadsticks, for serving, 6

Preparation

Drain the watermelon

Cut the watermelon into 1 inch (2.5 cm) cubes and pick out any stray seeds. Spread the cubes in a colander set over a bowl, sprinkle with a pinch of the salt and leave for 20 minutes. Press lightly with the back of a spoon once or twice, without crushing the fruit. About a quarter of its weight will drain away as thin, pale liquid. Discard it, since it carries almost no flavor and only thins the soup. Meanwhile, chill the blender jar in the refrigerator, which helps keep the emulsion stable later.

Seed and chop the tomatoes

Core the tomatoes and cut them into quarters. Working over a sieve, scoop out the seeds and the jelly around them with your thumb and press the sieve gently to check nothing but water is left behind. Discard the seeds and their water. Chop the flesh roughly. What remains should feel firm and dense, like a fruit and not a puddle. Weigh the trimmed flesh if you can: you want about 1 1/2 lb (680 g) left from the 2 lb.

Blend the base

Put the tomato flesh, drained watermelon, cucumber, bell pepper, shallot, garlic and half of the basil into a high speed blender. Add the vinegar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt. Blend for 45 seconds until the mixture is smooth but still shows a few fine flecks. It will look thin and very pink at this point, which is normal. If you like heat, add the minced Calabrian chili now, a little at a time.

Emulsify with the olive oil

With the blender running on low, pour in the olive oil in a slow, thin stream, taking about 30 seconds. The soup will thicken slightly and turn a deeper, creamier orange red as the oil breaks into tiny droplets and suspends itself in the fruit. Do not add the oil all at once, because it will float and the soup will feel greasy.

Season and chill

Strain the soup through a medium mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing the solids with a ladle. Taste it at room temperature and add the remaining salt, a little at a time, until the tomato tastes clear and savory instead of merely sweet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Taste again when it is very cold, and correct with a pinch more salt, a few drops of vinegar or the teaspoon of lemon juice. If it is too thick, loosen it with the cold water.

Make the basil oil

Bring a small pot of water to a boil and drop in the basil for 10 seconds. Lift it out with a spider and plunge it into ice water. Squeeze it thoroughly dry and blend it with the olive oil and the pinch of salt for 1 minute. Strain through a fine sieve without pressing, and keep the bright green oil in a small jar.

Prepare the garnish

Shave the ricotta salata into thin shards with a vegetable peeler, or crumble it if it is too dry to shave. Cut the finishing watermelon and cucumber into dice about 1/4 inch (6 mm) across and keep them cold and separate. Tear the remaining basil just before serving so it does not darken, and keep everything cold until the moment of plating.

Plating

Serve in chilled shallow bowls, not deep ones, so the soup sits wide and the garnish stays visible. Pour about 3/4 cup (180 ml) of the gazpacho into each bowl at the table, or bring the bowls with the garnish already arranged and pour the soup around it from a small pitcher.

Scatter the diced watermelon and cucumber in the center, lay two or three shards of ricotta salata over them, and spoon 1 teaspoon of the basil oil in small drops across the surface. Add a little lemon zest, a twist of black pepper and the torn basil. Serve immediately, with a crisp grissino on the side if you want something to crunch, and set the pitcher on the table so guests can top up.

Professional Technique

The whole recipe rests on one fact: watermelon dilutes. It is more than ninety percent water, and it brings sugar and perfume but no structure, no acid, no fiber to hold a body. Past a certain proportion it stops adding flavor and starts thinning everything, and the soup becomes sweet water with a pink color. The cook has two moves.

The first is to drain the watermelon in a colander before it goes near the blender. The first free water is the least flavorful part, and removing it concentrates the sugar and aroma that remain. The second is to concentrate the tomatoes: choose fruit that is fully ripe, dark and heavy, and remove the seeds together with the watery jelly around them, because that jelly is the thinnest liquid in the tomato and adds acidity without depth.

Watermelon must never exceed about thirty percent of the total fruit weight. Here it is 12 oz against 2 lb of tomatoes, which is about 27 percent, and that is already close to the ceiling. Above it the soup loses the savory backbone of the tomato, and no vinegar or oil will bring it back.

Salt also has to be pushed up. A base this sweet and this diluted hides salt: sugar suppresses the perception of saltiness, and the extra water spreads the same grams across a larger volume. A soup made only of tomato tastes right at about 0.6 percent salt by weight, while this one needs about 0.8. Add it in stages, taste, and let the final correction happen once the soup is cold.

Texture and Moisture Control

The target is a soup that is thin enough to drink but coats the spoon lightly. Bread normally provides that body in a gazpacho, so here the job falls to two things: the fiber of well seeded tomato flesh and the olive oil emulsion. Pour the oil slowly with the blender running, because a proper emulsion gives a silky, almost creamy mouthfeel without any dairy.

Straining decides how refined the result feels. Skins and fibers left in the soup make it grainy, while a medium sieve removes them and leaves a smooth body. Chilling then thickens the soup a little, because cold makes olive oil more viscous, so expect it to be slightly thicker at 40°F (4°C) than when it left the blender. If it firms up too much, whisk in 1 or 2 tablespoons of cold water, never ice cubes.

Keep the garnish dry. Diced watermelon and cucumber weep quickly, and their water will thin the soup if they sit in it. Cut them late, keep them in a covered container on a paper towel, and add them at the last second so they stay crisp and hold their color and shape.

Professional Mise en Place

Equipment and tools

High speed blender, chilled for 20 minutes, and a medium mesh sieve
Colander and a bowl for draining the watermelon
Small saucepan, spider and a bowl of ice water for the basil
Vegetable peeler for the ricotta salata
Chilled shallow bowls and a small pitcher for pouring at the table
Digital scale, so the watermelon ratio is measured and not guessed

Prepared ahead

Gazpacho blended, strained and chilled the day before, up to 24 hours, then tasted and reseasoned on the morning of service
Basil oil made up to 2 days ahead and kept in a sealed jar in the refrigerator
Ricotta salata shaved and covered in the refrigerator, taken out 10 minutes before service
Grissini and lemon zest ready in small dishes, so the garnish station takes seconds

Service setup

Bowls in the freezer for 20 minutes before service, and the soup on ice in a covered bowl
Diced watermelon and cucumber cut within 30 minutes of serving
Basil torn at the last second and the pepper mill within reach
One person pours, one person garnishes, and the bowls leave the pass within a minute

Chef Tips

Taste the tomatoes before you buy a pound of them. A tomato that is pale, hard or scentless will never make a good gazpacho, and no seasoning fixes it. Buy fruit that smells sweet at the stem end, feels heavy for its size and gives slightly under your thumb.

Freeze a handful of the watermelon cubes for 1 hour and blend them in with the rest if you need to chill the soup quickly. They lower the temperature without adding ice water, and they stay within the ratio.

Blend the soup the day before. Overnight, the garlic softens, the vinegar rounds out, and the flavors knit together, so the soup tastes deeper and calmer than it did on day one. Just taste and reseason once more before serving, since cold mutes salt.

Serve it colder than you think. Around 40°F (4°C) is the point where the sweetness feels fresh instead of syrupy, and where the olive oil still tastes clean.

Common Mistakes

Using too much watermelon. More than about 30 percent of the fruit weight turns the soup into sweet water. Weigh the fruit instead of judging it by eye, and keep the ratio in mind if you scale the recipe.

Skipping the drain. Watermelon straight from the cutting board releases its free water into the soup, and the result is thin, pale and disappointing. Twenty minutes in a colander costs nothing.

Leaving the seeds in the tomatoes. The jelly around the seeds is mostly water and acid, and it makes the soup watery and slightly bitter.

Under salting. Sweetness hides salt, so a soup that tastes fine at room temperature will taste flat when cold. Season in stages and check again once chilled.

Adding the oil all at once. The soup will not emulsify, the oil floats in droplets, and the mouthfeel is greasy instead of creamy.

Serving it lukewarm. A gazpacho served above 50°F (10°C) tastes sweet and loose. Chill it for at least 3 hours and serve it in cold bowls, straight from the refrigerator.

Blending the basil too long. Long blending warms the leaves and turns them dark and bitter. Blend half briefly with the base and leave the color to the basil oil.

Wine Pairing

Vermentino di Gallura DOCG: A dry, saline white grown on granite, with lemony acidity and a faint bitter almond finish. It meets the vinegar in the soup on equal terms, and its natural salinity echoes the ricotta salata. The body is light enough not to bury the delicate watermelon aroma, yet it has the freshness to cut through the olive oil.

Grillo Sicilia DOC: The Sicilian match and a natural one for a dish with Sicilian roots. Grillo is dry and bright, with citrus peel and a slight herbal note that runs along the basil, and enough weight to stand up to the olive oil without turning heavy. Its saline finish also plays well against the tomato acidity.

Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo DOC: A dry rosé from Montepulciano, cherry red and fresh, with a whisper of tannin and good acidity. Its red berry fruit mirrors the tomato and the watermelon, while the dry, slightly savory finish stops the pairing from tasting sweet. Serve it very cold, the same temperature as the soup.

Trento DOC: A metodo classico sparkling wine with fine bubbles, high acidity and a dry, yeasty finish. The bubbles cleanse the olive oil from the palate between spoonfuls, and the crisp acidity keeps the sweet watermelon in check. A good choice for a dinner party opener.

Etna Bianco DOC: A dry white from volcanic soils, mineral and tense, with citrus and white flower aromas and a long saline finish. That mineral edge works with the tomato and the ricotta salata, and its firm acidity refreshes the palate between spoonfuls without competing with the basil.

Storage & Reheating

Keep the gazpacho in a covered glass or stainless container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. It tastes best after the first night, once the flavors have settled. Store it in a bottle or jar, filled to the top to limit contact with air. Stir or shake before serving, because the oil and the solids will separate slightly, and taste again for salt.

This soup is not meant to be reheated. If you prefer to serve it slightly less cold, leave it at room temperature for 10 minutes. Freezing is not recommended, since the emulsion breaks and the texture turns watery and grainy on thawing. Keep the basil oil, ricotta salata and diced garnish separate, and add them only at service. Leftover soup makes a good cold sauce for grilled fish.