Pickled melon with whipped feta & fried capers
The marriage of feta and watermelon isn’t new, but lightly pickling the watermelon gives it a wonderfully savoury dimension in this recipe by Ravinder Bhogal.
- Serves4
- CourseSide
- Prepare15 mins
- Cook10 mins
- Total time25 mins
- Pluscooling + soaking
Ingredients
- 200ml white wine vinegar
- 100g caster sugar
- 1 star anise
- 4 black peppercorns
- 1 strip pared unwaxed lemon zest
- 8 sprig/s fresh oregano, plus a few extra sprigs to serve
- 1 mini watermelon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp nonpareille capers
Whipped feta
- 200g feta, finely crumbled
- 100g strained Greek yogurt
- ½ lemon, juice
- 1 clove/s garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Method
In a small pan, mix the vinegar, sugar, spices, zest, oregano, a pinch of salt and 200ml water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, then turn down and simmer for 3 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, trim the skin from the melon, cut the flesh into bite-sized chunks (or use a melon baller) and put in a shallow bowl. Strain over the cooled pickling liquid (discard the aromatics). Soak for 10 minutes, then drain.
For the whipped feta, in a food processor, pulse together the feta, yogurt, lemon juice and garlic until very smooth, then season with black pepper and set aside.
In a frying pan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat. Once shimmering, carefully add the capers and cook, shaking the pan, until they crisp up. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. To serve, smooth the feta over a plate, drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil and top with the pickled melon, crispy capers and oregano sprigs.
Nutritional
Typical values per serving when made using specific products in recipe
Energy | 1,502kJ/ 361kcals |
|---|---|
Fat | 24g |
Saturated Fat | 12g |
Carbohydrates | 23g |
Sugars | 23g |
Fibre | 0.9g |
Protein | 11g |
Salt | 2g |