Cantaloupe Soup with Basil

Recipe Author: Conne Ward Cameron

I’m on a melon mission this week. We’ve been making cantaloupe granita from a great recipe from Walker Brown of Inman’s Park’s Wisteria Restaurant. Can’t share that recipe yet, it publishes in the AJC on August 11, but here’s a similar recipe for a melon soup that you could turn into a granita just by adding a little simple syrup and then freezing it. If you need some other melon ideas, check out https://grassfedcow.com/ingredient/watermelon/. The recipes there are generally for watermelon, but you could use the cantaloupe in most.

This recipe is fabulous. No idea where I first found it. Use it as a cold soup as it was first intended, add a little seltzer or club soda and make a spritzer, add a little gin and make a cocktail, add a little simple syrup and freeze it for a granita. It couldn’t be simpler and it couldn’t be more delicious.

Ingredients:

6 cups chopped cantaloupe 1/2 cup roughly chopped basil, plus more for garnish 1/4 cup lime juice, plus more to taste

Preparation:

Put all ingredients into a blender and purée, stirring often, until very smooth. Chill before serving and use it in one of the ways listed above.