Tag: watermelon

Summer means watermelon – La Cucina Italiana – Italian Cuisine

Watermelon is the fruit of the summer par excellence. Moisturizing, refreshing and rich in properties. To eat, all, including seeds

Watermelon is the fruit of the summer par excellence. Moisturizing, refreshing and rich in properties.

Sweet, fresh and thirst-quenching, watermelon is the fruit that immediately makes a holiday.
You eat a slice and immediately feel yourself on the beach, in the sun and with your feet in the sand.

Best known by the name of watermelon, it is easy to find it on our tables from June to September.
We all love her for her bright (and patriotic!) Colors, for her fun shape and for her pleasant taste.

How do you choose watermelon?

The perfect watermelon is the one from solid skin, free of spots and scars and with a small yellow patch at the base. To be sure it will be good, knock on the walls and if the sound is empty it means that it is ripe at the right point.

Watermelon, as we have already told you, is rich in properties.

It is good for the heart and reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood.
It is good for the line because it has only 30 calories per 100 gr and a powerful diuretic effect.
It is good for love because it contains arginine, considered a natural Viagra.
It is good for sleep because it stimulates the body to produce serotonin.
It is good for the skin because it protects it from UV rays.

But, as already mentioned, watermelon is above all very good to bring to the table at any time of the day.
If eating watermelon just means slicing it and biting it by pulling the seeds away, here are some ideas that will tickle your palate.

Skewers of watermelon and feta

A perfect finger food for a standing aperitif.
Just alternate seedless watermelon cubes, feta cubes, cucumber slices and black olives on a wooden toothpick.

Sea frost

It is called this way, yet melon has nothing to do except for the fact that this is the name of watermelon in Sicilian dialect. This dessert is a sort of pudding and is prepared by whipping 350 g of seedless watermelon pulp. Then the juice is filtered and cooked over low heat with 40 g of corn starch and 40 g of sugar. When the consistency has become dense at the right point, the fire is turned off and the frost is poured into small cups. It is left to cool well in the refrigerator and then served with chopped pistachios.

Watermelon pizza

This is not a savory recipe, but a fun and colorful dessert that is very reminiscent of a classic pizza on the plate. Just cut a watermelon into round horizontal slices and decorate each slice with fresh fruit to taste and dehydrated coconut flakes. Then this slice is in turn cut into wedges and served as if it were a real pizza.

Toasted watermelon seeds

An idea not to throw away the seeds of watermelon, a source of magnesium, iron and proteins. Here is a very quick and easy recipe. Wash the seeds very well and let them dry in the sun if possible. Then arrange them in an oven size and season with oil and salt. Cook them at 180 degrees for 15 minutes. Once ready you can use them in many ways. They are good for nibbling, they are excellent added to salad or breakfast cereals and they are an excellent condiment for minced grilled meats and vegetables together with dried red pepper.

And the peel?

Here is a tip for do not throw away the watermelon peel.
Instead of cutting it into slices, divide the watermelon into two parts, that is, into two half balls. Empty the pulp (which you will use for the recipes we have suggested) and use it as a container for a fruit salad or cocktail. The idea of recycling it to make it a vase of flowers is also very funny.

* You may be interested in: 10 recipes with watermelon, from the appetizer – fish – to the dessert; How to choose melon

How to make drunken watermelon – La Cucina Italiana – Italian Cuisine

Just add a little vodka to make this fruit alcoholic. It can be served sliced, as eat and drink or as juice. Here's how to prepare the three variants

A bonfire with friends on the beach or an informal dinner in the garden don't taste the same if there isn't one an alcoholic watermelon, or rather drunk, to share. Let's learn how to do it in a classic way and with some variations.

Preparing it is very simple because just fill the fruit with an alcoholic drink, usually vodka. It can be done either by storing the pulp inside, or by digging it and using the peel as a container for a food and drink.

Here it is now three variants to present this perfect recipe for summer.

Drunk sliced watermelon

To prepare the drunken watermelon to eat sliced is enough engrave a square of 4 cm about on the skin until it reaches deep into the pulp.
Once this plug has been extracted, a hole will have been created inside which it is necessary to insert a funnel to pour a certain amount of vodka into the fruit. You decide how much, based on the alcohol content you want.
This procedure must be done very slowly to allow the pulp to absorb the liquid.
Once this step is complete, the hole e closes leave to cool in the refrigerator for some hours.
When serving, cut the watermelon into slices and eat as usual with forks and knives.

Drunk watermelon eat and drink

The most scenic alternative is as we said eat and drink. A sort of sangria, but made with watermelon and vodka instead of wine and served inside the fruit itself.
Practically cut the watermelon in half or remove a slice large enough from the shell to breach it turn watermelon into a container.
We dig inside for remove the pulp which will then be cut into cubes and deprived of the seeds (if you have desire and patience) and yes will combine with other summer fruit like peaches and melon inside the watermelon-container together with vodka.
In this case, a ladle is used to serve this sort of alcoholic fruit salad.

Drunken watermelon juice

Finally, there is another very original and truly effective technique for transforming the pulp of watermelon into a juice. That's enough drill a fairly large hole on the rind and then insert one inside electric whisk. In a short time all the pulp will have become liquid. At this point add an alcoholic part and let cool the whole refrigerator after closing the hole.
You can serve the cocktail in the glasses or insert some long straws inside the hole to drink all together directly from watermelon.

Other recipes with watermelon

Watermelon Cupcakes – 's Watermelon Cupcakes Recipe – Italian Cuisine

Start by preparing the cakes: work the eggs with the sugar, then add the milk and oil first, then all the dry ingredients (flour, yeast and salt), finally add also red coloring and chocolate chips.

Pour the mixture into the baking cups, filling them for 2/3 or so, and bake for 15-20 minutes in a preheated static oven at 180 ° C, then take out of the oven and leave to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are ready, prepare the frosting: whip the very cold cream in the fridge, then add the green coloring and mix gently, so as not to disassemble the cream.

Put the cream in a sac-à-poche with a star spout and decorate the cupcakes adding a few drops of chocolate.
The watermelons cupcakes are ready, serve them immediately or keep them in the fridge until ready to serve them.