Caribbean Baked Pineapple

FloridaNative's Note:

Grown only in the New World tropics, pineapples belong to the bromeliad family. Bromeliads are epiphytes, or air plants, which means they absorb water and nutrients from their environment through microscopic hairs at the base of their leaves.Their roots function only as an anchoring support. It takes 13 to 18 months for a pineapple to mature. From "The Florida Keys Cookbook" and posted for ZWT5.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4-6

Yield: 4.0

• 1 ripe pineapple
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1 persian lime , peeled and separated into segments
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ½ cup fresh breadcrumb

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F Remove all but about 1 inch of green leaves from top of pineapple. Cut pineapple in half lengthwise. With a serrated knife, carefully cut around the perimeter of each half pineapple. With a large serving spoon, carefully scoop out pineapple, separating it from the shell - be sure to keep the shell intact.
2. Cut the flesh (not the shell) of each half pineapple in half again, lengthwise. Cut out the tough inner core. Cut the pineapple in 1-inch bite-size pieces (about 3 cups). Drain one pineapple shell on paper toweling. Discard the other shell.
3. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pineapple, lime segments, sugar and red pepper flakes. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Transfer pineapple mixture, including all butter, to pineapple shell. Set aside.
4. Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add breadcrumbs and saute, stirring frequently, until crumbs are toasted and browned. Top pineapple with tasted breadcrumbs.
5. Place pineapple shell in an appropriately sized baking dish. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. (You can prepare this recipe early in the day, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until baking. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.).
6. NOTE: In the tropics, fruit is quite often cooked like a vegetable and served as a side dish. If you want an even more peppery kick to this dish, add 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper to the breadcrumb-butter mixture.

Reviews

[weekend cooker]

Great dessert for us tonight. This is an unusual recipe, but real easy to prepare, with great results. I had to use a reguler lime. I also cut back to 1/8 teaspoon red pepper, but stiil very nice. Made for your win in Football Pool.

[Sydney Mike]

I'm almost always interested in finding different ways to prepare fruit, & this is definitely different, at least for me! I did, however, have to wing it when it came to the 'persian' lime & just used what I found in the supermarket! Also, I used a dense & nutty winter wheat bread to get my breadcrumbs, which probably wasn't what was intended! Still, we found this to be a great way to serve up pineapple, especially for friends who enjoy things a little exotic! Thanks for posting a very nice keeper of a recipe! {Tagged, made & reviewed in Zaar Chef Alphabet Soup tag]