Skip to main content

Lemon Granita. It's ice Jim, but not as we know it


We first discovered Granita when we went to Sicily with the Levy family. We loved Sicily and had such a good time that a few years later we went back with my Mum, and brother Steve and family.
One of the little rituals that we got into (that I think we have to thank Nushi Levy for) was to go to a litttle local beach quite late on in the afternoon when the pretty fierce Sicilian rays had died down a bit. We had the bit of the beach that didn’t have seried ranks of sunloungers on, pretty much to ourselves, if you didn’t count the odd couple heavy petting that is.
Anyway, one of the favourite parts of the trip was Lemon Granita. Granita is basically flavoured shaved ice. However the simplicity of the description belies the joy of the dish. In Sicily the granita came in a plastic cup with a half straw/half spoon kind-of-thang, which enabled you to suck up every last drop of the remaining cold,sticky,sweet,sour deliciousness.
Some time after we got back I tried the recipe out from the River Cafe. It’s simplicity itself and always gets a good reaction from adults and kids alike.
It goes well with fresh raspberries, you can also pour a glug of iced vodka over it at the last minute. It’s great at the end of a rich dinner but it’s also equally delicious in a cup with a teaspoon, and on a hot day, if you squint you might just imagine that East Molesey is Castelvetrano .... or maybe not.

Ingredients

500 ml water
100g caster sugar
250ml lemon jiuice (8-10 lemons)
finely grated zest of 1 lemon

In a saucepan bring the water and sugar to the boil and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat allow to cool and then add lemon juice and zest.

Pour into shallow trays or old ice cream tubs and put into the freezer. Allow to partially freeze, and after about 20 - 30 miins take it out and mash up the crystals with a fork, then return to the freezer. Repeat this process every 20-3- mins until you have a hard but crystalline granita. This will take a couple of hours or so.

To serve, take out of freezer leave to go al little soft (5 mins) and then scrape surface to create shavings and load a bowl genorously and serve immediately.

It's great on its own but you could add a few fresh raspberries or blackberries too
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crack potatoes courtesy of Ottolenghi. Harissa and confit garlic roast potatoes

Another recipe from Ottolenghi's Simple, another recommendation from Will Saunders.   I know its the middle of summer but who doesn't love a roastie? These little tinkers are so good that they are like crack, class A calories. The clever bit is the addition of semolina and caraway seeds which adds a new level of crunchiness to add to the delicious warm heat of Harissa. Heres the recipe These make a lovely, spicy change from the traditional Sunday roasties. They’re especially good with spiced roast meat. Serves six to eight. 2 large heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled 130g goose or duck fat 4 sprigs fresh rosemary  6 sprigs fresh thyme  2kg maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks 40g ground semolina 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tbsp rose harissa Flaky sea salt Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the garlic, fat and herbs in a small ovenproof pan or saucepan for which you have a lid. Cover and roast for 40 minut
1 comment
Read more

Nigel Slaters deceptively brilliant monkfish

Lisa discovered this recipe in her favourite Nigel book. It is one of those fish, 'but not as we know it Jim' recipes. Not just because Monkfish is the fish that can best impersonate meat but also because of the marinade ingredients that are more often featured with lamb. It's not difficult to do but the flavour is a revelation, which makes it a perfect recipe in my book. This can be cooked on a grill pan or a barbecue. Ingredients 3 bushy sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped 4 anchovy fillets 2 large cloves garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large lemon, juice only 3 tbsp olive oil 800g/1½lb monkfish fillet Method Pull the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them finely, then tip them into a bowl large enough to take the fish. Rinse the anchovy fillets and smash them to a rough pulp with the flat edge of your chopping knife. Peel the garlic, crush it flat, then smash it to a purée in the same way. Stir together the herb, anchovy and garlic, adding a grind
1 comment
Read more

Sea Bass on mushroom potatoes with salsa Verde

I felt the overwhelming need to cook something new on Saturday night. I didn't want the tired and tested I wanted to explore new culinary waters. However combined with this desire was an equal and opposing force, driven by being absolutely knackered, that meant it had to be simple too. I returned to one of Jamie's early books, to a recipe that IO had meant to do on countless occasions but never quite got round to. I have done several versions of Sea Bass on a bed of potatoes, some that I have written about on this blog. The one question I would have is about the thickness of the potatoes and the length of time they need to be cooked through ... in my oven I reckon they need about 10 minutes more than the recipe suggests. I would suggest a bit of a trial run if you are going to do it for a dinner party ... however once you have given it a whirl I think this makes for a very easy recipe for a crowd. Here's the recipe. Roasted slashed fillet of sea bass stuffed with herbs, bak
1 comment
Read more