Watermelon Sangria. Summer in a glass.

I don’t think it’s going to get any better than this. Summer that is. And whatever else I might find to put in this glass. This recipe comes straight from Joy the Baker, with gratitude and reverence. If you don’t follow Joy you should. She’s smart, funny, and wildly successful at creating ridiculously good food and drink.  And she does not fuss. When I saw this recipe I immediately thought, “Great! A way to use up those three half bottles of Limoncello in my freezer.” Flash forward a month later and there I am making up an excuse to go to the grocery store so I can really go next door and buy Limoncello.

Trust me though, this is worth a new bottle of Limoncello. So as I said this comes straight from Joy the Baker BUT I have notes for practicality. Joy lives in urban California where a “small” watermelon is the size of a small melon. I live in rural NH where a small watermelon is the size of a large baby. Plan accordingly. Joy muddles things artfully in stages and I slammed all the fruit together in a blender.

Also, if you’re wondering if you can store the leftovers a la freezer daquiris, wonder no more. Yes! In fact the entire first batch (which my impatient not-gonna-go-to-the-store-one-more-time self made with boxed pinot grigio and no strawberries) went straight to the freezer and was a darned good consolation prize between batches. It has no high fructose corn syrup laden limeade in it though, so the texture ends up more icy.

Enough said. Dig out that Limoncello and prepare to be refreshed!

Limoncello. Out with the old, in with the new.

The rose of choice. French, screw top, cheap. All good!

Watermelon Strawberry Citrus Sangria 

makes a big bunch

Ingredients

4 cups watermelon juice, from one small watermelon (see note above)
1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 bottle Rosé wine, not too sweet is best
1 cup vodka
1 cup limoncello or Cointreau
juice of 2 oranges
juice of 1 lime
1 orange sliced
1 lime sliced

Method

Slice a watermelon into large chunks.  Reserve a few smaller chunks for the sangria jar and for garnish.  Blend watermelon chunks with a handful of sliced strawberries until smooth.  Depending on the size of your blender, you may need to blend the fruit in two batches. Strain fruit juice through a fine mesh strainer and into a large measuring cup. You’ll need about 4 cups of watermelon/strawberry juice.

In a large container stir together, watermelon/strawberry juice, wine, vodka, limoncello, orange juice, and lime juice. Stir in the remaining sliced strawberries, a few watermelon chunks, sliced oranges, and sliced lime. Chill thoroughly before serving.  Serve over ice.