Cantaloupe gazpacho

A light, bright-tasting soup to serve chilled. By which I mean thoroughly cold, and served with ice cubes. The consistency can be as smooth or rough as you like, but I prefer it to have a coarse minced texture, so use the mincer attachment to the food mixer. I have used a food processor too, but it requires keeping a careful eye not to reduce it to a puree.

Serves 6
romano peppers 3
yellow pepper 1, large
cucumber 250g
ripe cantaloupe melon 1.25kg (unpeeled weight)
basil 10g
sherry vinegar 1 tbsp
lemon juice of ½
ice cubes

Halve and seed the peppers then cut them into large pieces. Coarsely mince or process them to your chosen consistency. Peel the cucumber and cut into rough chunks, then process to the same texture as the peppers and add to the peppers. Prepare the melon, discarding the skin and seeds and fibre, then cutting the flesh into chunks. Process in a similar way to the other ingredients then stir together.

Roughly chop the basil and stir into the soup together with the lemon juice and a little salt and black pepper. Cover and chill thoroughly. Stir in the ice cubes just before serving.