pineapple with gelato and fresh summer fruit

millefoglie di ananas e gelato

4 servings

Serve this dramatic dessert with a spoon, fork and knife. Be sure to have all the fruit sliced before preparing. Fruit for garnish can be varied. Choose whatever is freshest and most vibrant at your market.

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Ingredients

1 large pineapple, trimmed
2 pints vanilla gelato, softened slightly
12 thin slices cantaloupe
1 peach or nectarine, pitted and thinly sliced
1 fresh fig, quartered
4 grapes, halved
4 raspberries
Confectioners sugar for dusting
Fresh mint sprigs for garnish

Instructions

From pineapple, slice 16 (⅓-inch) rounds. Place 1 round each onto 4 serving plates. Working quickly, dollop 3 to 4 spoonfuls gelato over rounds; top with a second layer of rounds. Repeat until each stack contains 3 layers of gelato and is topped with a pineapple round.

Top with cantaloupe, peach, fig, grapes and raspberries. Dust with confectioners' sugar, garnish with mint and serve immediately, before gelato melts.

August 2008