CHILLED COCONUT SOUP WITH SPICE-ROASTED PINEAPPLE

CHILLED COCONUT SOUP WITH SPICE-ROASTED PINEAPPLE image

Yield 8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 9

4 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated peeled fresh coconut or unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup sugar
1 4 3/4-pound fresh pineapple, peeled, quartered lengthwise, cored
16 whole cloves
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
6 tablespoons (about) pineapple juice
1 pint pineapple sorbet
8 fresh mint sprigs

Steps:

Bring coconut milk, grated coconut, and 1/2 cup sugar to simmer in heavy large saucepan, whisking until sugar dissolves. Cover and set aside to cool. Strain coconut soup through strainer set over large bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours. (Soup can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place pineapple in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Stud each quarter with 4 cloves. Place remaining 1/2 cup sugar in small bowl; scrape in seeds from vanilla bean and mix well. Sprinkle vanilla sugar over pineapple. Roast until pineapple is tender and juices brown, adding pineapple juice by tablespoonfuls as needed to keep pan juices from burning, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool pineapple completely, basting occasionally with syrupy pan juices. (Can be made 3 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Transfer pineapple to plate; cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Ladle soup into 8 bowls. Top with scoop of sorbet. Spoon pineapple around sorbet. Drizzle pan juices over. Garnish with mint and serve.