Today I would like to introduce you to one of my favourite appetizers – grilled watermelon with goat’s cream cheese, crisp lamb’s lettuce and a honey-carrot thyme dressing.
I learned to know this dish a few years ago at the Berlin restaurant The Grand and in contrast to my love for meat, this starter comes completely without it. I’ve cooked the whole thing many times before, although it was often difficult to get all the ingredients, especially in Asia.
For you here now my version.
For 4 persons
Difficulty: Easy
Costs: 10 – 15 Euro
Preparation time: 15 – 20 minutes
Ingredients
- A sugar-sweet watermelon – preferably with few “seeds
- Mild goat’s cream cheese
- Crunchy lamb’s lettuce
- A knife point of sweet paprika powder
Dressing
- 8 tsp raspberry vinegar (or a sweet fruit vinegar of your choice)
- 2 tsp thyme honey (or the honey of your choice and some fresh thyme)
- A dash of carrot juice
- Salt & pepper (Up to you)
- 6 tsp virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp hazelnut oil
You can achieve thyme aroma with fresh thyme, but also – as in my case – with Greek thyme honey.
Tools
A chopping board, one large and 2 small bowls, a salad shaker, a sharp knife and gastro rubber gloves.
Preparation
First you prepare the dressing in the order of the list of ingredients – the honey dissolves best in the vinegar and as always, the oils should be added at the end. Then place the whole thing in a shaker – outside the fridge, please. A shaker, therefore, so that you can ideally “shake” the dressing again before use.
Then cut “melon crescents” with a thickness of 1.5 – 2 centimetres and a size that can hold two “slices” of your goat’s cream cheese. The cheese can be cut slightly thicker than the melon – so 2.5 to 3 centimetres fit.
Now wash the lamb’s lettuce and dry it carefully so that it stays crisp. The lamb’s lettuce is the only ingredient that can come off a little colder…
So, the preparations are completed.
Now add the dressing to the lamb’s lettuce and mix it well – I would save some dressing to put on top before serving. Place all the components and the starter plates at the grill.
Now grill the melon crescents vigorously from each side – the structure/texture of the fruit flesh must be preserved…so to speak “medium-rare”…
As already mentioned, it is important that the melon is sugar sweet – this is the only way to get the “stiffs from the grill” properly caramelised. As soon as you have provided your melon slices with the desired pattern, put them on the plates provided.
Now place two slices of the ultra-mild goat’s cheese on each of the grilled melon slices and “decorate” them with the knife point of sweet paprika powder.
Now mix the lamb’s lettuce again well so that enough dressing sticks to it and place 1-2 tablespoons of it per plate on the goat’s cheese. If necessary, ad a few drops of the dressing on the plate and you are ready to serve the dish.
Bon appetite!
The big secret – what makes this starter so delicious for me personally…even though there is no meat in it – is the combination of the so different textures. The interaction of the components ignites fireworks for me as well as for Rémy`s brother Emile in the film Ratatouille when he tasted strawberries and cheese together…
I would be happy if you like the recipe – should you try it, I would of course be happy to hear your opinions (please leave me a note at our Facebook Group).
For those who are interested, here is the link to an article I wrote about textures – have fun browsing!