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WATERMELON WITH PICKLED RIND, SALTED RICOTTA AND CORIANDER SALAD

Apple and cheese is a classic combination, and my twist on a refreshing summer salad is to pair watermelon and savoury salted ricotta. Instead of discarding watermelon rind, try pickling it. It has a great texture and keeps for quite some time in the fridge. It works well as an accompaniment to most meat and fish, and in salads, like this one.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus minimum 24 hours pickling

½ watermelon (approximately 1.2kg)

4 tbsp olive oil

grated zest and juice of 1 lime

50g salted ricotta cheese

¼ bunch of coriander, leaves picked

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE PICKLE

100ml white wine vinegar

4 tbsp runny honey

6 whole white peppercorns

2 cloves

1 bay leaf

1cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

½ tsp yellow mustard seeds

½ tsp table salt

Peel the green layer off the watermelon, then remove the pink flesh from the white rind (put the pink flesh in a bowl, cover and chill) and carefully slice the white rind into roughly 1cm chunks. Put all the pickle ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the chunks of watermelon rind and bring back up to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to steep for 30 minutes. Cover and chill for at least 24 hours.

Cut the pink watermelon flesh into roughly 1.5cm cubes, removing as many black and white seeds as you can (with a skewer). Mix the olive oil and lime zest and juice together in a bowl. Season the watermelon with sea salt and pepper and dress it with the oil and lime.

Divide the watermelon flesh between four plates. Drain off the pickled watermelon rind and add it to the plates. Finely grate the salted ricotta over the top of the watermelon (use a Microplane grater for this if you have one) then finish with the coriander leaves.