Watermelon Soup

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The last thing you want to do during the heat of the summer is turn on your oven. Thankfully, chef Josue Louis keeps things nice and cool in his watermelon soup by puréeing and pickling the ingredients — no cooking required! It’s like a sweeter gazpacho with hints of mint and lime, and the brined watermelon rinds add a nice zip (and crunch) to the dish.

Ingredients

for the soup
  • 900 grams (4 cups) watermelon, seedless
  • 225 grams (1 cup) English cucumber
  • 1 tablespoon mint
  • Juice from 1/2 lime
  • 1 pinch salt
for the pickled melon rinds
  • 1 cup watermelon rinds
  • 150 grams (3/4 cup) water
  • 50 grams (1/4 cup) white wine
  • 20 grams (4 teaspoons) sugar
  • 2 mint leaves
  • 1 star anise

Directions

  1. Remove rind of watermelon (reserve for pickling) and dice.
  2. Peel cucumber, remove seeds and dice.
  3. Combine melon, mint and cucumber in blender and puree. Strain soup. Skim any foam from surface. Season with salt and lime juice.
  4. To prepare pickled melon rinds, in small pot, bring all ingredients to a boil (5-10 mins). Remove pot from heat and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Remove outer green and any red flesh on rinds. Dice rinds evenly or shape into rounds using small cookie cutter.
  5. Place rinds in bowl and pour pickling liquid on top. Place in refrigerator and allow to pickle for 24 hours.

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