As my other posts have said, Joey and I went to Italy in 2009 to visit our family. We started in Sicily, then proceeded to Calabria to his mothers town called Centrache, and then up to Milano to stay with his Zio and Zia. While in Calabria, we went to the beach town of Soverato. After being at the beach, and soaking up the sun and salt, we needed some goodies to fill our bellies and cool us off. We went up the cafe that sat at the beach and ordered aqua, arancini, and granita's. The cold strawberry taste was AMAZING. So fresh and so tasty. No trace of high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavoring at all.
There are many flavors of granita's, just like when you get gelato. Granita is basically a fruity ice, made with fresh fruit, sugar, and water.....basically like an Italian ice here in America, but smoother and with real ingredients. You would normally make this during the hot summer days when your kids come in all sweaty with bright red cheeks. But tonight, I knew I wanted something sweet but did not want it to be true calorie overload.
It is a very simple dessert for those who want something simplistic. Below you will find the recipe. I learned this while we were in Calabria from a family friend but threw in one extra ingredient.
FRAGOLA GRANITA
1 Bag of Frozen Strawberries or 1 2lb pkg of fresh strawberries
1 cup of water
3/4 cup of sugar
5 splash of lemon juice
Take the strawberries and add to a blender or smoothie maker and blend until they are smooth. Pour them into a bread Pyrex dish and then add in 1 cup of cold water. Stir around and then add sugar and lemon juice. Stir around again. Put into the freezer and every 15 minutes take a spoon and stir around. It should freeze around 5 hours later. If the center starts to freeze, push it down with the spoon and stir again. Once it is fully frozen, scrape with a spoon and serve with halved strawberries on top. Then enjoy every bite of fresh delight! (For an adult granita you can substitute the lemon juice with lemoncello!!)
It is a very simple dessert for those who want something simplistic. Below you will find the recipe. I learned this while we were in Calabria from a family friend but threw in one extra ingredient.
FRAGOLA GRANITA
1 Bag of Frozen Strawberries or 1 2lb pkg of fresh strawberries
1 cup of water
3/4 cup of sugar
5 splash of lemon juice
Take the strawberries and add to a blender or smoothie maker and blend until they are smooth. Pour them into a bread Pyrex dish and then add in 1 cup of cold water. Stir around and then add sugar and lemon juice. Stir around again. Put into the freezer and every 15 minutes take a spoon and stir around. It should freeze around 5 hours later. If the center starts to freeze, push it down with the spoon and stir again. Once it is fully frozen, scrape with a spoon and serve with halved strawberries on top. Then enjoy every bite of fresh delight! (For an adult granita you can substitute the lemon juice with lemoncello!!)