I bought prickly pears. And then I had to figure out what to do with them!
Prickly pears are the fruit of the prickly pear cactus — the same cactus that bears the nopales leaves I discovered in San Miguel, and used in my black bean quesadillas. My friend Paddy mentioned eating the fruits growing up on my San Miguel nopales post, and I couldn’t stop thinking about trying the fruit ever since.
Well, first I had to learn how to get into them. And after I got stuck by a stray thorn, I decided to use my google-fu to figure it all out. Thanks to a great post on How to Cut and Prepare Prickly Pears at Simply Recipes, I managed to get into the prickly pears without any further stings.
After I had peeled the prickly pears, I popped the peeled fruit in the blender to get at the juice. A quick run through the sieve to get the seeds out, a little mint, a little lime, and I had my sorbet base.
And here I am without an ice cream machine. Luckily, David Lebovitz posted about how to make ice cream or sorbet without a machine, and it works a charm. Especially when I can’t justify the cabinet space (or the freezer space!) on another appliance! When you do it this way, sans machine, you’ll find that the resulting sorbet is a little icy. I don’t mind that, personally.
So what do prickly pears taste like, you may be thinking? Well, as I read on Simply Recipes, a prickly pear “tastes like a cross between all-natural bubblegum (if indeed there is such a thing) and watermelon.” Upon first reading this description, I was incredulous and convinced this was a ridiculous prospect. But you know what? They absolutely do taste like a cross between bubblegum and watermelon. Go figure. And these prickly pears are quite sweet on their own, so I didn’t add any sugar to the recipe.
I must say: this sorbet is divine. And look at this colour! Therefore, you have no excuse not to make your own, so go forth and sorbet!
Prickly Pear Sorbet with Lime & Mint
Serves 2
- 6 prickly pears, skins removed
- 1/4 c. mint, thinly sliced
- zest of 1 lime
Toss prickly pears in a blender and blitz until smooth, for about 10 seconds. Strain the resulting liquid through a sieve, keeping the liquid and discarding the seeds.
Pour the prickly pear juice back into the blender, and add mint and lime zest. Blitz to combine (about 5 seconds). Pour into a sturdy container (pyrex dish or stainless steel bowl), and pop into the freezer.
Check on the mix every 45 minutes to 1 hour. When you have freezing around the edges, give it a good whisk (you can use a hand whisk, spatula, hand-held mixer, or even an immersion blender). Return the mixture to the freezer, and repeat this process (for around 2-3 hours) until the sorbet is frozen.
Serve, and make sure to lick your spoon in delight. This is good stuff.
Submitted to Amy’s Amazing Slightly Indulgent Tuesday. Always delicious – go check it out for healthy & inspiring recipes.
Kitchen Operas 
fico d’india!! i haven’t had these since i was in sicilia.
this recipe makes me nostalgic. love it.
Awesome! I had no idea what a prickly pear looked like 🙂
Amazing fruit. I will have to give this a try. I still have a chaiote (sp?) squash in my fridge that I’ve got to do something with. Any ideas?
Actually, I do have an idea — I had Cheyote in Mexico cooked with soy sauce and sesame seeds (and possibly Nigella seeds). Yum.
Aniyia — well, now you can enjoy them in sorbet form. Mmmmm. Thanks for sharing the Italian name — I love seeing the names of fruits & veggies in other languages!
Dani — me neither, what a nice new find for both of us!
Wow!! That is beautiful!! I’ve never had prickly pears, but now I definitely want to try them!! 🙂
This is so creative! I’d love to give this recipe a try. Sorbets are one of my favorites. Thanks for linking to SIT!
Oh, Amy, you really should taste it — divine! And especially if you love sorbet!
Thanks again for hosting SIT, what fun!!!
Looks so wonderful! I have never had a prickly pear, but have seen them. Looks great!