Pineapple and Sage Martini

Adapted from NOPI: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully

pineapple sage martini nopi

This was the first ever cocktail to get on the menu when NOPI opened. It was created by Niall Downey, who was living with Scully at the time. The cloves make it particularly well suited to festive parties. Its constant presence on our menu, however, hints at its suitability for drinking throughout the whole year.

You’ll make more of the pineapple purée than you need, so you can either freeze the remainder in batches, to be re-used when needed, or eat it as a delicious purée, swirled into semi-whipped cream or spooned on top of some plain yogurt for breakfast. The remaining clove syrup can be kept in the fridge for a few weeks or frozen for longer.

Reprinted with permission from NOPI: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully, copyright © 2015. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Ingredients

Servings: 2

  • 1 bottle Tanqueray London dry gin
  • 1 bottle Tanqueray London dry gin
  • 20 sage leaves
  • 20 sage leaves
  • 4 cardamom pods, roughly crushed by hand or in a mortar and pestle
  • 4 cardamom pods, roughly crushed by hand or in a mortar and pestle
  • 1 large pineapple, unpeeled, leaves trimmed and discarded
  • 1 large pineapple, unpeeled, leaves trimmed and discarded
  • 3/4 ounce lemon juice
  • 3/4 ounce lemon juice
  • 3/4 ounce clove syrup (See Editor's Note)
  • 3/4 ounce clove syrup (See Editor's Note)

Garnish: 2 sage leaves

Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to  390°F/200°C (360°F/180°C convection).
  2. Wrap the pineapple in foil and roast in the oven for 3 hours. Remove and set aside to cool.
  3. Peel the pineapple and cut it lengthwise into 4 wedges. Cut out and discard the core, then place the flesh in a blender. Blitz to form a purée and set aside.
  4. Add the crushed cardamom pods and sage leaves to the bottle of gin and set aside for at least 3 hours, swirling the bottle from time to time.
  5. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, discard the cardamom and sage, and return the gin to the bottle.
  6. Pour 3 1/2 ounces of infused gin into a shaker with 1 3/4 ounce of the pineapple purée, 3/4 ounce of lemon juice, and 2/3 ounce of the clove syrup.
  7. Add ice, shake vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds, and strain into prechilled martini glasses.
  8. Garnish each with a fresh sage leaf and serve at once.
Editor's Note

Clove Syrup:

1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
4 whole cloves

Place the sugar in a medium saucepan with 1 cup of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low. Add the cloves and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Lift out and discard the cloves, then set the syrup aside until completely cool.

Tagged: gin, pineapple, sage