I've been in love with gazpacho, or cold soup, for many years, ever since my first visit to Spain.

It just makes so much sense to have a chilled soup, bursting with fresh flavours, when the summer sun is baking down… and there are few better summer soups than gazpacho.

Like just about every other dish in Spain, most families have their own recipe for making it. I love the classic spicy, rich Spanish version, but ever since I discovered the delights of using watermelon as a base for this soup I have been hooked on the South African way of making gazpacho.

To me watermelon just on its own is one of the tastiest fruits in the universe and I even enjoy it occasionally with coarse black pepper, brie cheese and olive oil, which might sound weird, but the taste is out of this world. And as the dominating flavour in this soup it's absolutely superb.

To make four servings of watermelon gazpacho you need:

Ingredients:

• ½ cup diced red/yellow (not green) pepper


• The juice of one small lime


• 1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander leaf


• ½ cup finely chopped fresh mint


• 1 small red/green chilli, seeded, chopped


• 2 spring onions, finely chopped


• 1 cup peeled cucumber, seeds removed


• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered


• 4 cups peeled watermelon, seeds removed, liquefied


• 1 cup of finely chopped watermelon, seeds removed


• Optional: one small glass of cold, dry white wine


• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil


• Salt and coarse black pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl, gently mix all the ingredients, cover and chill the bowl for two to three hours.

Serve soup in small bowls that have been well-chilled in the freezer.

To add to the festive feel of this dish I serve really cold champagne or small glasses of white port with this starter.