Recipe: Grilled Pineapple with Summer Berry Compote

GRILLED PINEAPPLE WITH SUMMER BERRY COMPOTE

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 cups fresh blackberries, rinsed
2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and stems removed
2 cups strawberries, rinsed and sliced
1 ripe pineapple, peeled and cored
Fresh mint leaves for garnish

TO MAKE THE BERRY COMPOTE:
Heat the sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes until it reaches the consistency of syrup.

Add the berries and cook for 10 minutes, occasionally stirring very gently. Remove from heat and gently strain, reserving syrup and placing berries in a bowl. Return the berry syrup to the saucepan. Continue to cook the syrup over medium heat until reduced by a fourth, about 15 minutes.

Pour the syrup over the berries and allow it to cool.

TO PEEL AND CORE THE PINEAPPLE:
Use a large, sharp knife to slice off the top and bottom. Stand the pineapple on one end, then cut from top to bottom all the way around to remove the skin. To remove the core, cut the pineapple in half widthwise, then cut each piece in half lengthwise, and then each quarter lengthwise. Cut off the core section of each eighth, then cut each piece into four spears, so you have 32 spears of pineapple. Pineapple can be cut 1 day ahead and kept refrigerated.

TO GRILL THE PINEAPPLE:
Use a pair of tongs to transfer the spears to a hot charcoal grill or stovetop grill pan. Grill each piece for 1 to 3 minutes per side until the pineapple starts to caramelize. You can also lay the pineapple slices on a baking tray, brush lightly with vegetable oil and broil 3 to 5 minutes per side until the pineapple starts to caramelize.

Serve the pineapple warm with the berry compote. Garnish with fresh mint leaves.

DO-AHEAD TIP:
Make the berry compote up to three days ahead and keep refrigerated in a well-sealed container. When it's dessert time, just toss the pineapple on the grill.

Makes: 8 to 10 servings