Air Fry Bacon-Wrapped Watermelon for an Intriguing Salad
Watermelon salad – melon, feta and mint – is a summer staple with many adored fans. It is refreshing, juicy, balanced, easy to blend. I have no doubts about this, but when I looked at a nearly eaten melon that had been living in my refrigerator for several days, I wondered how it would behave in the deep fryer, and whether I should wrap it in bacon before throwing it away there.
The answer to these questions is “pretty good” and “yes,” even if it all seems a bit disrespectful. Watermelon is valued as a sweet treat to cool you down during a grueling picnic; frying in the air changes his whole personality. Thanks to its high water content, it remains remarkably juicy, but the flavor profile changes from fruity sweetness to a kind of grassy, tomato sweetness. Combined with the usual watermelon salad ingredients, you get a more subtle and intriguing dish than you’d expect from a hot pink melon.
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Then there is the question of bacon. I doubt I’ll have to convince you that salted pork tastes good wrapped in fruit; There are many such examples to point to, including the iconic melone prosciutto . Salty and sweet go well together, and the crunchy stripes create a textural contrast for the juicy fruit, as well as a few smoky, charred pieces.
How to cook fried watermelon in bacon
For best results, use cheap, thin bacon. You want a crispy and chewy layer of meat wrapped around a juicy slice of melon, and the thick bacon will take forever to crunch. (Even thin bacon takes longer than usual when wrapped around a water bomb like a melon.) Dice the melon into 1 1/2-inch pieces, then wrap half a strip of bacon around each.
Heat the fryer to 400℉ and place the bacon-wrapped melon, seam side down, on a baking sheet in the fryer. Cook for 15-25 minutes (depending on the thickness of the bacon and size of the air fryer), flipping halfway through, until the bacon is crisp and browned on all sides. Let cool to room temperature and serve with crumbled feta and fresh mint.