What I love most about summer eating is the bounty of delicious fruits we have on hand, from peaches to all varieties of melon. Here in southern France, cantaloupe melon is king. It’s like no other melon I have ever tasted – except of course in Italy, which shares a similar “terroir” (land and soil composition) when it comes to fresh produce. They are small, intoxicatingly fragrant, super sweet, juicy, and absolutely delightful. And starting July, they are abundant: you see them being sold on the side of the road, piled in the local markets and on sold for next to nothing at the supermarket. I tend to buy loads for a couple of reasons. First, we eat them for breakfast – not a very French thing to do, but they’re just so good and I’m convinced they make my skin glow – or at least that is my theory. Second, they are my go-to quick appetizer for the kids while they patiently wait for dinner. A couple of piece of cantaloupe melon with a little bit of prosciutto never ruined anybody’s appetite right? And finally, you can use them in so many more appetizer recipes if you want a change from the habitual melon prosciutto. Here are 3 I love.
If you want to watch how I make them, just check out my Instagram IGTV video.
Melon basil gazpacho
Serves 4 as a starter
Ingredients
- 1 cantaloupe melon, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
- 1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 slice of bread, soaked in water and squeezed of any moisture (optional – some people use bread but if you are not into gluten, you can skip this step – I often do)
- Pinch of salt
- 8 basil leaves
- Freshly ground pepper
Instructions
Place the melon, bread, vinegar, olive oil, salt and 4 basil leaves in a blender. Blitz until smooth and creamy. Place in a bowl, covered and chill for 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. Serve in small bowls/ramekins and top each one with a leaf of basil. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.
Melon chorizo/mozzarella and basil bites
Makes about 25 bites depending on the size of your melon – In France, one melon weighs about 600g. If yours are bigger, then only use part of the melon or increase the quantity of the other ingredients to make more skewers.
Half the skewers will be melon/mozzarella/basil and the other half will be melon/chorizo/basil.
Ingredients
- 25 toothpicks
- 1 cantaloupe melon, peeled, seeded, and cut into small chunks
- 10-15 mini mozzarella balls or 1 big mozzarella ball cut into 10-15 cubes
- 10-15 slices of chorizo
- 25 basil leaves
Instructions
String a piece of melon on each toothpick, along with one folded basil leaf and either one piece of mozzarella or one slice of chorizo. Repeat until you have no more ingredients or toothpicks left.
Melon mozzarella carpaccio
Serves 4 as a starter
You can easily slice the ingredients in advance, cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
Ingredients
- 1 cantaloupe melon, peeled, halved and seeded
- 2 balls of mozzarella (you could also sub this with burrata if you want something more decadent)
- 4-6 basil leaves, chopped
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Place half a cantaloupe face side down. Using a sharp knife, cut thin slices (as thin as you can without them breaking). Repeat with the other half. Set slices aside in a cool place.
- Thinly slice the mozzarella balls. If you are using burrata, you can just cut it into quarters. Set aside.
- Take out 4 starter plates. On each plate, arrange one quarter of the melon slices in a fan shape. You can either top each plate of melon slices with a quarter of the mozzarella slices or you can alternate the slices (one slice mozzarella, one slice melon, one slice mozzarella, one slice melon, etc.). Decorate with chopped basil.
- Drizzle each plate with olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Serve immediately.
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