Grilled rockmelon with feta

Grilling fruit is an underrated technique. Here a quick lick of heat helps bring out its sweet flavours, balanced by the salty feta and floral pepper to make a fresh appetiser.

Credit: Ben Fogarty

• serves

  4

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 4 slices rockmelon
• 100 ml grapeseed oil
• Coarsely ground black pepper
• 3 cm ginger, sliced
• 3 cm fresh turmeric, sliced
• 1 tsp honey
• 120 g feta cheese, preferably goat’s milk
• Small handful Vietnamese mint leaves, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Heat a bbq or griddle pan to medium with a little oil. Lightly grill the rockmelon for 3-5 minutes or until grill marks form, turning once.
2. Remove from the grill and set aside.
3. In a small saucepan bring the grapeseed oil, pepper,  ginger and turmeric to 80˚C, cook briefly, then add the honey and let it infuse.
4. Remove from  heat and strain when cool.
5. To serve, cut the rockmelon diagonally so each plate receives two pieces, crumble the feta over the rockmelon, dress with the infused oil, and garnish with Vietnamese mint.

Note

•If you like some acidity Stefano recommends adding a squeeze of fresh lime juice to the honey and oil infusion.

Stefano de Pieri explores all the wonders of the Murray Darling river system in Australia's Food Bowl.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.