Spicy & Savory Sweet Honeydew Melon - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar, white
1/3 cup basil, stems seperated, leaves torn seperated
1 tablespoon red chili, finely chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest
4 cups honeydew melon, chopped 1-inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt, sea
1/4 teaspoon white pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

In a small pot boil water and sugar, once boiling, add the basil stems, chili and lemon zest and remove from heat.
All the syrup to cool to room temperature.
Then you can refrigerate the simple syrup for anywhere 15 minutes or up to 24 hours. The longer it sits the more flavor you will get.
Remove the basil stems from the syrup and discard.
In a large bowl toss the melon with the chilled syrup.
Add the remaining salt, the white pepper if using and the basil leaves, toss gently .
Drizzle with olive oil and serve.