Citrus fruit tartare with honey and roasted pecans
This is one of my favourite recipes of all times and I believe it has got the potential of becoming one of your favourites too! It doesn’t require cooking, it is fairly easy to prepare and it is considerably healthier than many desserts that I know, yet it seems to impress every person to whom I have served it so far… Every time I make this recipe, I immediately think of my dad… He is the only person in my family who doesn’t like desserts, but he will hardly ever finish a meal without eating a fruit! The memory of my dad trying this citrus fruit tartare when he and my mum first came to visit my husband and I in London is one of my favourite food memories.
Level of difficulty
EasyCourse
Dessert | Pre-dessertServes
4Preparation time
30 minutesIngredients
- 4 oranges
- 2 limes (juice and zest)
- 1 pink grapefruit
- 1 red grapefruit
- 100g of pecan halves
- 45 ml of Acacia honey or molasses (about 3 table spoons)
Preparation
- Toast the pecan halves for 12 minutes in a 180 degrees pre-heated oven. Once cold, chop the pecans into smaller pieces and reserve.
- Zest the lime, making sure to grate only the green outer part of the peel (the white part is bitter!), then squeeze the lime juice. Add the juice and zest into a bowl.
- Supreme the oranges, following these steps:
a) Slice off the top and bottom of the orange
b) Place the orange upright on a chopping board. With the help of a sharp knife remove the orange peels by cutting them off from top to bottom following the shape of the fruit.
c) Repeat the process around the orange until the entire peel is removed and the juicy flesh is exposed. At the end of the process you should be able to see the orange wedges and the membranes between them.
d) Slice along the inside of the membranes and remove the orange supremes.
- Supreme the grapefruits, following the same process as described above for the oranges.
- Make a tartare of the orange and grapefruit supremes by chopping each of the wedges into two or three smaller pieces.
- Add the tartare into the bowl with the lemon juice and zest.
- Squeeze the juice remaining into the membranes of the oranges and grapefruits over the citrus tartare.
- Add half of the amount of the honey or molasses, stir all the ingredients very well and try it. If you feel that you need more sweetness to balance the citric and bitter flavours of the fruits, add more honey or molasses until it is sweet enough for your taste.
- Take it to refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Add the roasted pecans just before serving so they don’t lose their crunchiness.
Tips
- This recipe also works very well as a pre-dessert, when served in a small portion, as it cleans the palate after the main course and prepares it for the dessert.
- If you don’t have grapefruit where you live, give different citrus fruit such as tangerine, mandarin, pomelo, etc. a go… Let your creative juices (pun intended) flow!
