Bread and Butter Watermelon Rind Pickles

Photo by Michael Piazza / Styled by Rachel Caldwell

Buy one little Sugar Baby or Pixie watermelon, use the flesh for a batch of agua fresca (see recipe), make these pickles and waste nothing. Denuded of its sweet red flesh and hard green shell, white watermelon rind sucks up flavor like a sponge—this is an extremely assertive pickle that would love to hang out in your fridge for a few weeks, giving your ham sandwiches, burgers and cheese plates a little zing.

Makes 1 pint

2 cups watermelon rind, peeled of green skin and red flesh
1 cup white wine vinegar
½ cup water
½ cup brown sugar
2 cloves star anise
1½ teaspoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
½ teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon turmeric

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let cool. Pour into a lidded pint jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.

This recipe appeared in the Summer 2019 issue as part of a larger story on Melon.