How to Cut and Serve a Fresh Pineapple

Did you ever think that preparing a fresh pineapple was more work than it was worth? I used to think so too, until I figured out a quick and painless way to cut and serve a fresh pineapple. Never again will I fight with peeling a fresh pineapple and cutting all the eyes out. By using this method, you preserve the fresh pineapple halves to use as bowls for serving.

To begin with, wash the pineapple under cool water. Use a vegetable brush to clean in all the grooves. This will remove most pesticides and other debris on the outside of the fresh pineapple. If you skip this step, you will be dragging all the pesticides and debris right through the pineapple. After your fresh pineapple is clean, place it on a cutting board and slice it lengthwise with a large sharp knife. Slice through the fresh pineapple and through the leaves, being careful not to remove or damage the leaves. Be sure to save the fresh pineapple halves to use as serving dishes.

To remove the core, take a small paring knife and cut a "V" shape down the center of each half of the fresh pineapple. Gently dig out the core and discard it. Now comes the fun part ...the part that makes this technique much easier than any other way you have ever cut a fresh pineapple. Using a melon baller, scoop out as much of the fresh pineapple as you can. Place the fresh pineapple balls in a bowl. By using a melon baller, you do not have to worry about removing any of the eyes which are sometimes left using conventional ways of cutting a fresh pineapple. When you have removed as much as possible, use the melon baller to scrape the insides of the fresh pineapple. This will produce crushed pineapple. Place the crushed pineapple in a separate small dish to eat later, and save the nice round pineapple balls to serve. As a side note, do not use fresh pineapple in gelatin as it will not set.

Place both halves of the fresh pineapple on a serving platter and place the fresh pineapple balls back into the empty halves. Add several different kinds of fruit to make a fruit salad and to add color to your presentation. Fresh blueberries, bing cherries, or red grapes will compliment the color of the fresh pineapple. If desired, garnish with fresh mint leaves tucked into the fruit.