A watermelon is refreshing on its own but only lasts a few days once you cut it open – and a large melon might be too much of a good thing in that time frame. To preserve the flesh and bring out its flavor, I turn it into sorbet.
I recommend a standard watermelon with large black seeds, which are easier to remove than the small, edible ivory seed coats in a seedless watermelon. If you do use a seedless melon, you have a few options: painstakingly remove the seed coats as you scrape or cut the flesh from the rind or blend them and the flesh and then either ignore the bits that remain when you eat the sorbet, just as you would when you eat a flesh watermelon slice, or strain the pureed flesh through successively finer-mesh strainers to remove as many whole seed coats as possible. Prepping the watermelon can be messy and sticky, so I typically take that part of the process outdoors.
Watermelon are so watery that I strain the puree through cheesecloth and set aside excess juice to make syrup or shrub, processes I’ll share in next week’s column. Even a small watermelon weighs enough that you can hold back some of the juice and still have enough flesh for an even thicker sorbet.
Even with some juice removed, this sorbet can turn out softer than Rhubarb-Rosemary Sorbet depending on density of the melon. Serve it straight from the freezer, or prescoop the sorbet into dishes and freeze these until dessert time. If a particular batch seems too soft to be called a sorbet, divide the frozen puree among glasses and serve it as a slushie or mix it with rum and serve it as a daiquiri. It’s delicious in all of these forms.
I like to use as much of every watermelon as possible, so besides transforming the extra juice, I peel away the thick green skin and pickle the watermelon rind. In The Complete Guide to Pickling, I give two contrasting variations: a sweet vinegar-based fridge pickle and a savory fermented one.
Watermelon-Mint Sorbet
Makes about 1 quart
1 pound watermelon flesh (3-4 cups coarsely chopped)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons minced fresh mint
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons gin or vodka
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
Use an immersion blender, food processor or upright blender to puree the watermelon flesh. Strain off excess juice until you have about 2 cups of puree. Stir in the sugar, mint, lemon juice, alcohol and salt.
Pour the puree into a 9-by-13 inch baking pan or another shallow pan. Cover with a lid or food wrap and freeze for four to eight hours. Occasionally remove the mixture, quickly stir it with a fork until it forms pebble-sized chunks and return it to the freezer. When the sorbet is frozen, puree again to smooth it out. Refreeze the sorbet for at least one hour before serving; transfer it to a freezer-safe container for longer storage.
Julie Laing is a Bigfork-based cookbook author and food blogger. Learn more about this month’s pickling workshops at TwiceAsTasty.com.