As temperatures soar, nothing hits the spot like a mouthwatering chilled soup — especially when that soup involves watermelon, cucumber, basil and vodka. This summer, be sure to try chef Giada De Laurentiis’ recipes for chilled spiked watermelon and cucumber soup and orange-scented chilled tomato soup.
Recipe: Chilled spiked watermelon and cucumber soup (on this page) Recipe: Orange-scented chilled tomato soup (on this page)Place the watermelon chunks into a blender and blend. Add the cucumber, salt, pepper, basil and vodka and blend. Chill the soup for at least 3 hours until ready to serve.
Before serving, take a skewer and place one piece of leftover watermelon, one piece of feta and the another piece of watermelon.
Pour the soup into chilled bowls or martini glasses and serve with one skewer.
To make the soup:
In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, carrots, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots are soft, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes (with juice), chicken broth, orange juice, maple syrup, tomato paste and basil. Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Using an immersion blender or food processor, blend the soup until smooth. Cool the soup to room temperature, about 1 hour. Chill for at least 2 hours until ready to serve. Season the chilled soup with salt and pepper, to taste.
For the yogurt topping:
In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, zest and maple syrup until smooth.
Ladle the soup into chilled soup bowls and top with a dollop of the seasoned yogurt.
Yield: 4 servings (5 1/2 cups). Prep time: 10 minutes.
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