Grilled Pineapple with Pink Peppercorns and Lavender

From Kathy Gehrt — Blog by Kathy Gehrt

September 27, 2010

Exotic, flavorful and sweet, grilled pineapple is a special summer dessert. I love to serve this with vanilla ice cream. Pink peppercorns, a berry from the Baies Rose plant or, by another name, the Peppertree, add color and seasoning. Lavender adds flavor and brings out the sweetness of the pineapple. Grilling pineapple softens and adds grill marks to the golden pineapple.

Ingredients

1 pineapple skinned and cored. (How? Check out this video.)

1 tablespoon pink peppercorns, crushed

1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender buds

1 tablespoon olive oil

fresh sprigs of lavender for garnish

Remove the tough skin and core the pineapple. Slice the pineapple across the core into pieces about 1/2” thick. Marinate with olive oil, lightly crushed dried pink peppercorns and lavender buds.

Grill on a hot grill until marked and seared. Turn to grill on both sides. While the pineapple is grilling, brush it with the remaining marinade.

Serve while the pineapple is warm. Place the pineapple on good-sized plate. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Sprinkle the top of the ice cream with pink peppercorns and lavender blossoms and pink peppercorns. For an extra treat, drizzle some caramel sauce over the plate in a loose zigzag pattern.