Fruit Salad with Balsamic Chasteberry Dressing is a modern Fusion recipe for a classic dessert of a blend of cubed fruit served in a sweetened balsamic vinegar, mint, chasteberry and black pepper dressing. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic American version of: Fruit Salad with Balsamic Chasteberry Dressing.
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This is a modern Fusion recipe for a classic mixed fruit salad in a balsamic vinegar syrup dressing flavoured with mint, black pepper and chasteberry (monk's pepper) that's served garnished with monk's pepper.
Ingredients:
2 bunches of fresh mint leaves
150g caster sugar
120ml balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp chasteberry (monk's pepper)
4 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
6 large peaches, blanched, peeled, pitted and sliced
1 honeydew melon, peeled, de-seeded and cubed
1 small pineapple, peeled, cored and cubed
500g strawberries, hulled and halved if large
500g raspberries
200g blackberries
100g cherries, halved
1/2 tsp coarsely ground monk's pepper, to garnish
100g feta cheese, cubed
Method:
Strip the leaves from the mint stem. Place half in a pan with 250ml water, the sugar, balsamic vinegar black pepper and monk's pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
In the meantime, place the cornflour (cornstarch) in a small bowl and mix to a smooth slurry with 4 tbsp water. Stir this into the saucepan with the balsamic dressing. Whisk until smooth then bring to a boil, take off the heat and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Pass through a fine-meshed sieve and set aside.
Combine the peaches, melon, pineapple and strawberries in a bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss to combine. Add the raspberries and the remaining mint leaves (which should be shredded) and toss gently to mix. Garnish with the cheese and coarsely-ground monk's pepper and serve.
