Chilled Melon Soup
Chlled melon soup made with the sweetest summer melons and red prawns
At a recent cooking lesson at Eataly London as a guest of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, we learnt to make 2 dishes with some truly fabulous ingredients. All the ingredients we used were either PDO or PGI status (Protected Destination Origin), which are marks of quality in the European Union.
We were enthusiastically taught by Chef Eliano, the Executive Chef at Eataly. He talked us through every ingredient that was used, the characteristics and why it was selected.
Very Easy Chilled Melon Soup
This recipe is so easy. There is no cooking involved. Just some raw melons, raw prawns and a matter of putting all the elements together.
For this recipe, we used some superb Mantua Melons which come with a wax seal. These melons have golden yellow flesh, a gorgeous perfume and is supersweet. Using this melon to make the soup resulted in a sunshine yellow bowl of chilled soup. You can buy this melon at Eataly or specialist Italian suppliers.
The other ingredients we used are red prawns or gambero rossa. These are a real delicacy and fished from about 1000 feet deep and are prized for their soft, melting texture. It is one of the few prawns that can be eaten raw.
They are quite rare to find in the UK but you can buy them from some specialist suppliers.
Another ingredient is the Amalfi lemon. Not only is it bigger than a regular lemon, the zest and juice has a very perfumed citrusy scent. We only used a tiny bit of juice for the prawns.
You can of course make this dish using whatever ingredients you can find. Do try to find a brightly coloured and sweet melon as this will result in a very delicious soup and very vibrant colour.
Do give it a go and let me know how you get on.
Chilled melon soup ZUPPA DI MELONE
Ingredients
FOR THE PRAWNS
- 6 Red prawns
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 10 g Amalfi lemon juice
FOR THE MARINATED MELON
- 120 g Sunsweet Mantovano melon
- 4 g Basil
- 4 g Extra virgin olive oil
FOR THE SOUP
- 360 g Sunsweet Mantovano melon
- 2 g Salt
- 20 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 6 g Red wine vinegar
Instructions
FOR THE SOUP
- Cut the skin off the melon, taking care to remove the green skin.
- Cut the melon into 2cm pieces.
- Add the melon, salt, oil and vinegar into a blender.
- Blend the ingredients together for 2 minutes.
- Strain and set aside in the fridge.
FOR THE MARINATED MELON
- Cut the melon into 2cm pieces.
- Season the melon with the oil, drop of vinegar and chopped basil.
- Set aside in the fridge to allow the melon to marinate.
FOR THE PRAWNS
- Devein and chop the red prawns into 1/2 cm pieces
- Add the lemon zest and olive oil and set aside allowing the flavours to marinate.
- Before serving add the lemon juice & salt to 'cook' the prawns.
- To serve, remove the soup from the fridge and garnish with the marinated melon and prawns.
Notes
Serves 2
