A friend told me that you can make Vitamix sorbet using only watermelon. It’s true! Just cut, freeze, and blend.
The result is light and refreshing on a hot summer day. It’s also the sort of thing that could be served between courses of a fancy meal to cleanse the palate.
I slightly prefer watermelon agua fresca, but making sorbet adds some nice variety, especially if you have a big watermelon to use up.
The batch in the the photo did not need to go back in the freezer to firm up to form rounded scoops.
Ingredient
1.5 lb cut watermelon (rind removed, seedless preferable)
Makes about 6 scoops.
Cut watermelon into 1–2-inch chunks, then spread out on a baking tray or similar, and freeze. Make sure pieces are not touching so that they don’t freeze together. Freeze for at least a few hours, overnight is convenient. If you want to have an easier time blending, you can reserve about ¼ of the amount of watermelon and keep it in the fridge instead of the freezer. Then put the unfrozen chunks in the bottom of the container to help it start blending. I generally just use all frozen, but it makes blending slightly more difficult. Blend on high, and use the tamper to push watermelon into the blades. It’s ready about 5 seconds after you hear the blades consistently encountering more resistance (you’ll hear a lower pitch).
If you use all frozen pieces, when you first start blending, you will have to push the tamper down with a fair bit of force. The blender will make some disconcerting sounds, but just keep pushing. Hold the container with your other hand to keep it steady as you push the ingredients in the corners down.
Leftovers in the freezer will freeze hard, since this has high water content, without too much sugar or other things that keep it soft. For that reason, I recommend freezing leftovers into single serving amounts. If you have freezer pop molds, this is a great use for them.
Other things to add
The following go great with watermelon:
- strawberries
- mint
- basil
- lemon juice
- lime juice
- sugar or other sweetener
You could add any or all of the above, although I don’t think I would add both mint and basil at the same time.
