Compressed Watermelon with Watermelon Sauce

Soaking watermelon in its own condensed juices makes a double-down sweet-as-can-be watermelon flavor. It’s the perfect summer dessert; no sugar needed!

Serves 4 to 8 depending on size of watermelon

Ingredients:

1 seedless watermelon - look for a heavy watermelon with a large yellow “sunspot” rather than a white spot on the skin.

Garnish: use any or all or think of your own!

• ½ cup toasted or un-toasted coconut flakes

• Slivered basil, mint, or both, or whatever you’d like!

• Pomegranate seeds

Directions:

Wash your watermelon well in hot soapy water to remove any germs and dirt from the skin. Rinse well and dry with a clean towel.  

• Using a clean cutting board, cut the watermelon into (as perfectly as possible) squares that are 1 ½ to 2 inches in diameter. Use a ruler. Save the red fruit scraps in a bowl. Discard rind and white fruit.

• Sprinkle cubes very lightly with fine sea salt and gently set in a colander gently to drain.

• Purée the scraps into a fine “soup” in a blender or with a hand emersion blender… which means less washing!

• Measure the purée and place it in a saucepan. Reduce it by half by simmering. Stir occasionally.

• It will separate at first and then should look like tomato sauce.

• Taste. If it’s not quite sweet enough, add light honey to taste; no more than a tablespoon or so.

• Cool and then chill until cold. 

^{The reduced puréed watermelon should look like tomato sauce.}

• Once the sauce is chilled, put the squares into a square or rectangular glass Pyrex-type dish that just fits the squares. You will need two.

• Pour the sauce over the squares.

• Cover with parchment paper, and then place the second dish on top.

• Add weight such as heavy cans, etc. See photo.

• Turn the squares once after an hour or so if they are not completely covered with sauce.

• If you don’t have the right container, you can also place the cubed watermelon in a zip lock gallon bag placing squares tightly next to each other and in a single layer. Add the purée and seal, pressing out as much air as possible. 

• Place the bags on a cookie sheet with a rim in case of leakage. 

• Place another cookie sheet or something similar on top of the bags that will provide gentle, even pressure, such as a small cutting board.

• Top the cookie sheet or cutting board with several cans, an unopened milk carton on its side, etc. to apply extra pressure.

**Chill for 2-3 ho

To serve:

• Place two or three cubes into each serving bowl. Drizzle sauce around the cubes and garnish with toppings.

• You can also use a large rimmed platter for large gatherings. Drizzle sauce over the cubes and garnish with toppings.