Prickly Pearade
Give the lemonade a rest and make way for your new summer favorite. This simple cooler made from mild, sweet prickly pears - the fruit of the nopal cactus - makes for a wonderful summertime refreshment.
Servings: 2 quarts
Ingredients
- 18 Red prickly pears (aka. cactus pears)
- water (as needed)
- Sugar (or other sweetener) to taste
Instructions
- Peel the prickly pears: Start by slicing off both ends, then slit the skin down the entire length. You should be able to simply unroll the skin off of the fruit from that point - it should come loose quite easily.
- Place the peeled prickly pears into a large pot, and cover with water by about an inch (they will float, so you will need to hold one down to check the water depth).
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. While the fruit is simmering, attempt to break up the larger pieces as they begin to soften (a large spoon or a potato masher works well for this)
- Remove from heat, and pour through a fine sieve into a large pitcher or similar container. Use the back of a spoon to squeeze as much liquid from the pulp through the sieve and into the pitcher as possible. Discard pulp and seeds when you are finished.
- Add as much cold water as needed to bring the total volume up to about 2 quarts. Sweeten to taste (we sweeten ours rather lightly, usually starting with about 1/4 cup of sugar and gradually increasing as desired from there).
- Refrigerate until chilled.
Notes
- Prickly pears (aka. cactus pears) are most plentiful (and therefore less expensive) in the summertime, which is also when they are at their peak flavor. It is not uncommon to find them throughout the rest of the year, but not necessarily in the quantities you will need for this recipe. Your best bet is to buy these from a market that deals heavily in Hispanic produce (like much of our "specialty" produce here in the Chicago area, we buy ours at Tony's Fresh Market). Mainstream supermarkets often carry them, but also often market them as an "exotic" fruit (despite the fact that they are native to the US), and charge ridiculous prices for them.
- There are several varieties of prickly pear available, the most common types being red and green. We prefer the red variety largely for the attractive color it gives the finished product, but this will absolutely work with the green variety as well (or a mix of both types). A related yellow and pink cactus pear, called the xoconostle, is sometimes available. These are very sour, and are used quite differently - we love them for other recipes, but don't recommend them for this one.