All summer long, a melon will sit at the end of the kitchen table next to the fruit bowl, ripening.
When the sweet, heady smell fills the kitchen, I cut it open. Sometimes the wait is days – even weeks. I am ever the optimist as I slice it open, but from time to time, I discover the smell is better than the taste turns out to be, and my heart drops a little. I am always chasing a melon as perfectly sweet as the ones I remember from markets on French and Spanish holidays.
But when a melon is a little less than perfect, I have ways to soften the blow.
This salad with roast feta and new potatoes makes a meal of a melon; the lemon, honey and herbs bring out the flavour of even a lacklustre fruit. And the sorbet has become our summer dessert and a way of appeasing my ice-cream-obsessed son. It couldn’t be simpler to make – you don’t need an ice-cream machine, and it’s mostly fruit. For one kid’s party, I served the sorbet in the hollowed-out melon halves with some frozen berries on top, which takes me back to dessert menus circa 1989. The fortunes of a less-than-sweet melon are well and truly saved.
Melon, herb and roast feta salad
You can use any melon you like for this salad, or a mixture; I love the contrast of bright pink watermelon, the peach of a cantaloupe and the off-white of a sweet piel de sapo. I buy good Greek or Italian oregano, which is much more fragrant, so get your hands on some if you can. Vegans can roast a drained tin of chickpeas or butterbeans with the potatoes instead of the feta, and leave out the honey.
Prep 20 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 4
500g small new potatoes
1 unwaxed lemon
1 head garlic
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh oregano
Salt and black pepper
1kg melon (I use a mix of watermelon, cantaloupe and piel de sapo)
200g block feta cheese
1 small bunch Greek basil
1 small bunch mint, leaves picked
1 tbsp runny honey or agave (optional)
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/ gas 6. Chop any large potatoes in half and keep the smaller ones whole, then transfer to a large baking tray. Use a speed peeler to peel the zest from the lemon in long strips, then add to the tray.
Bash the head of garlic until the cloves are slightly split, then add to the tray with the olive oil and oregano. Season well, then roast for 20 minutes.
Peel and slice the melons into thin half-moons, removing the seeds as you go.
After the potatoes have had 20 minutes, take them out of the oven, then squash them down with a potato masher until broken apart and flattened. Break over the feta, then return the tray to the oven for a further 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp all over.
Remove from the oven, toss with the juice of half the lemon, then add the melon, basil and mint. Finish with a little honey, if you like, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Quick melon sorbet
You will need to freeze your melon at least the night before you make this sorbet. If you are lucky and your melon is particularly sweet, you might be able to use less maple syrup, so start by adding a little, then taste.
Prep 20 min
Chill 8 hr+
Serves 8
2 x 1kg ripe cantaloupe melons
100ml maple syrup
1 lemon, juice and zest
Frozen berries, to serve
Cut the melon in half and spoon out the seeds. Scoop out the flesh, keeping the scooped-out melon skins if you think you might use them to serve the sorbet in later.
Roughly chop the melon into 2-3cm pieces, pop in a container and put in the freezer for eight hours, or ideally overnight – it can be left here for up to a month, until needed.
Remove the melon pieces from the freezer and put in a high-powered blender, along with half the maple syrup and the juice and zest of the lemon. Blend for two to three minutes, until smooth, then add more maple syrup, if needed.
Scoop into bowls or the hollowed out melon halves, scatter over some frozen berries, if you like, and eat immediately. You can keep any leftovers in the freezer and blend again before serving.
