Watermelon Granita

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The texture of granita is intentionally grainy, the flavor not too sweet, so it is perfect as a hot-weather quencher. If you are serving this to children, call it slush. For adults, you could stir in a small amount of gin or rum at the end.

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Makes approximately 1 quart.

4 cups seedless watermelon purée

½ cup sugar, or to taste

Juice of 1 lemon

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1. Remove the seeds from the watermelon and purée in a blender. Put the purée through a coarse sieve into a bowl and stir in the sugar; hold some back to avoid over-sweetening.

2. Add the lemon juice and stir until the sugar dissolves.

3. Cover and chill well, overnight if possible.

4. Put the chilled watermelon mixture into a wide shallow pan, cover and carefully set it in the freezer. From time to time, as it begins to freeze, stir it, breaking up the ice crystals but without smoothing them as for sorbet. In a home freezer this takes about 3 hours after thorough chilling. Spoon the granita into bowls for serving. A green leaf from your herb garden makes a pretty garnish.

SummerEdible BostonMay 5, 2009Comment