Sicilian Strawberry Granita

Dragging myself away from the endless holiday photos, I have finally sat myself down to write up one of my Sicily inspired recipes. You can read about said experience here. Getting back into the kitchen is the one sure-fire way to pull me out of post-holiday blues, add a sweet and icy treat and I’ll be sure to see the grey clouds subsiding in no time – both metaphorical and literal. Note: I’m afraid I can’t guarantee the latter, but hey, what’s wrong with a little optimistic self-delusion?

This recipe is a gorgeously light palette cleanser, one of the few healthy (-ish) dishes we came across in this isle of indulgence. Perfect for rounding off a button busting Italian feast. Unlike our British habit of complicating dishes, Sicilian purists would serve this completely as you see it, but feel free to make your own serving additions… I won’t tell if you don’t.

The quantities here are taken from www.deliaonline.com but I had a little play with the method.

450g fresh strawberries

175g golden caster sugar

Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tbsp.)

•   Stir together the sugar, hot water and lemon juice until the sugar is fully dissolved.

•   Hull and rinse the strawberries then blitz until smooth.

•   Add the sugar syrup and blend again until fully combined.

•   Pour into a freezable container (or even a high sided baking tray if needed) about 20 cm by 20 cm and at least 6 cm deep.

•   Freeze for about half an hour, then use a fork to mix the frozen crystals (the edges should have started to freeze by now) with the liquid middle.

•   Repeat this every half hour or so until the entire mix has become frozen icy crystals – this should take about 1-2 hours in total.

•    If not serving immediately, make sure you transfer the granita to the fridge about half an hour before serving, otherwise it will be rather tricky to scoop.

•   Serve as it is or, if like me you want to deliciously adulterate the Italian simplicity, you can top with a few baby mint leaves… or even a dollop of natural yoghurt if you want to go completely off piste.