Cantaloupe is best known as a sticky picnic side—but have you ever tried cooking with this sweet summer treat? As it turns out, there are many ways to elevate this seasonal ingredient using common herbs and spices and basic kitchen treatments. When purchasing cantaloupe at the market, look for one that’s firm, heavy for its size, and lightly fragrant.
Cantaloupe and Black Pepper Granita
These grown-up slushies from Epicurious combine fresh cantaloupe with sharp black pepper. The sweetness and spice balance each other perfectly and make this dish endlessly edible. Enjoy a scoop on your patio while watching the sunset or sneak a few bites for breakfast! It is especially important in this recipe to use freshly ground black peppercorns for max flavor.
Spiced Cantaloupe Tea Loaf
Tea loaves are ultra simple to whip up and lend themselves to a wide variety of flavor combos and ingredients—including cantaloupe! Jo Cooks calls for very ripe cantaloupe, cinnamon, and a hint of ginger to create this fragrant and addictive breakfast treat. Consider mixing in a bit of ground nutmeg, pumpkin pie seasoning, cloves, or even allspice to personalize this recipe to your taste!
Chilled Cardamom Cantaloupe Soup
Fragrant cardamom heightens the sweetness of cantaloupe without overpowering it. Cantaloupe, cardamom, sugar, lime juice, and lots of fresh mint come together to create a refreshing take on gazpacho in this recipe from OCS.
Cantaloupe and Cucumber Salad
In this fruit salad from Bon Appétit (yep–cucumber is a fruit!), Fresno chiles bring a bright heat that pairs beautifully with sweet cantaloupe and crunchy cucumber. Don’t skip the roasted pepitas. They lend a nutty, earthy element to the salad that grounds the entire dish.
Cantaloupe and Pancetta Cream Sauce
In this unexpected pasta from Emeril Lagasse for Epicurious, cantaloupe cooks down with cream, shallots and oregano (or marjoram) to create a creamy, slightly sweet sauce that is punctuated by bits of salty pancetta. The sauce is ideal for fettuccine, but it would be equally wonderful with any long, thin, and twirlable noodle.
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