I made up this recipe the other day when I wanted to play with this new grater I got at a Japanese grocery store. It's a cheap grater, $8, but boy does it make some fun looking angel hair. I went nuts grating all kinds of fruits and vegetables. In Japanese and Korean dining there are side dishes and garnishes, most often things like radishes, that are cut fine and stringy which always reminds me of angel hair pasta.
I thought it was just fun to make pasta looking things out of fruit. For this dish I used pears, but you could use cantaloupe, honeydew, apple, or any fruit that has some toughness to it so it can survive going through a grating process. Not only is this dish light and refreshing, it's pretty fast and easy to make. This fruit salad would make for an awesome light dessert or a fun brunch dish tapas style.
Serves 1-2
Ingredients:
- 1 Bosc Pear
- 1 D'Anjou Pear
- 1 Kiwi
- 1/2 tbsp Agave Nectar
- Some ground up pistachio for topping or any other nut you like
Note: I used two kinds of pears because I liked the mix of a sweeter pear with a tarter one. Something to be aware of, if you use a Bosc pear it starts to brown almost immediately after grating and the juice starts getting runny soon after because the pear has higher water content to it. So, if you care about making a pretty looking dish stick with the D'Anjou or a fruit that is lower in water content.
Let's start creatin'
- Grind some pistachio nuts in a mini food processor for a nut topping. Pistachios go well with pears but you could use pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts.
- Skin the kiwi, cut into slices, and put it into a mini 3-cup food processor. Add the agave nectar and then, grind the kiwi until it is saucy looking. I added the agave because the kiwi can be a bit tart and the agave sweetens up the sauce. If you like tart, then omit the agave. That's it the sauce is done. Cover and put into the fridge until needed.
- Skin the pears. I leave a little skin on the top so I have something rougher to grab onto when grating the pear. A totally naked pear gets slippery and hard to grasp while grating.
- Cut one side of the pear so you have a flatter surface to start off your grating. The initial flatter surface will also give you a longer "pasta" string as you work your way toward the center of the pear.
- Start grating the pears using long strokes so you can get the longest strings possible.
- Place the angel hair pear pasta onto small plates, pour on some of the kiwi sauce, and add the nut topping.
Enjoy!
