Recipe: Italian Ice

Want to serve a cool, refreshing, cheap and easy dessert at your next cookout?  Try Italian Ice, sometimes also called Granita.  You can use almost any fruit you'd like--play around and try your favorite flavors.  I'll start you off with two recipes--one using fruit, one using juice--Pineapple Italian Ice and Lemon Italian Ice.

Pineapple Italian Ice

Prep time:  10 minutes
Freezing Time: 2-4 hours
Servings: approximately 10 1/2 cup scoops

Ingredients:
1 fresh pineapple
1 cup sugar
4 cups water

Instructions:

1. Boil the cup of sugar and water until the sugar has dissolved.  Set aside to cool.
2. Cut the top and bottom off the pineapple, then stand it up and cut off the rind from the sides.  Cut the pineapple in half vertically, then in half again to make quarters.  Cut out the core from each quarter (the hard, lighter colored, fibrous part).  If you want to do it the easier way, buy the already cored pineapple, but do use fresh (not canned) pineapple.
3. Cut the pineapple into 1" chunks and puree with a food processor or blender. Mix the pineapple with the sugar water and stir to mix well.
4. Pour the mixture into a freezer-safe 9 x 13" baking dish and place in the freezer.
5. IMPORTANT:  Stir the mixture every half hour or so for the couple of hours.  This breaks up the ice crystals and makes a slushy texture instead of one huge, flat ice cube.  Make sure to scrape the corners -they freeze the fastest.  The more often you stir, the better texture you'll get. Just set a timer for 30 minutes and stir, then go about your business until the timer beeps a half hour later.  This is a great job for the kiddos!
6. Scoop the Italian Ice into small bowls, mugs or cups and enjoy!  Store leftovers in a covered container in the freezer. Will stay fresh for a couple of weeks.

Lemon Italian Ice

Prep time:  10 minutes
Freezing Time: 2-4 hours
Servings: approximately 10 1/2 cup scoops

Ingredients:
5-6 lemons
1 cup sugar
4 cups water


Instructions:

1. Boil the water and sugar to make a simple syrup (boil until the sugar dissolves).  Set aside to cool.
2. Squeeze the lemons to make 3/4 cup lemon juice, saving the rinds for the zest.  Use a grater or zester and scrape just the very outer yellow layer of the lemon rinds until you have one tablespoon.  Be careful not to get any of the white pith-it's bitter.
3. Mix the juice, zest and sugar water together and mix well. Pour the mixture into a 9 x 13" freezer safe baking dish and place in the freezer.
4. IMPORTANT:  Stir the mixture every half hour or so for the couple of hours.  This breaks up the ice crystals and makes a slushy texture instead of one huge, flat ice cube.  Make sure to scrape the corners -they freeze the fastest.  The more often you stir, the better texture you'll get. Just set a timer for 30 minutes and stir, then go about your business until the timer beeps a half hour later.  This is a great job for the kiddos!
5. Scoop the Italian Ice into small bowls, mugs or cups and enjoy!
6. Store any unused Italian Ice in a sealed/covered container.

Other flavors to try: 

Raspberry Lemon--add some pureed raspberries to the Lemon Italian Ice

Orange -- substitute orange juice and peel for the lemon in the recipe above

Strawberry--substitute 1 pound pureed strawberries for the pineapple

Watermelon--substitute 4 cups of cubed watermelon for the pineapple

Peach--substitute 4 cups of sliced peaches for the pineapple

Pina Colada--add some fresh grated coconut to the pineapple recipe, or add cream of coconut

Lemon Basil--add 2 finely chopped fresh basil leaves to the lemon recipe above