...for the late great Marcella Hazan’s Strawberry Gelato. Now that summer is upon us and strawberries are in full, sweet swing, here is my sure-fire family favorite for an easy, crowd-pleasing desert. All you need is a basket of fresh strawberries (of course Harry’s Berries would be amazing), a few basics and an ice cream maker. Once you have realized how easy this truly is, you will be off and running on your own ice cream adventures including perhaps another favorite around our house- pixie cardamom sherbert. And for more ice cream making fun, take your kids to Williams-Sonoma in Santa Monica tomorrow at 3:00 pm and meet the ladies of Coolhaus who will be sharing their secrets and recipes from the Coolhaus Ice Cream Book.
Marcella Hazan’s Strawberry Gelato
From her absolute must have book, “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking”
1/2 pound fresh strawberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cold heavy whipping cream
1. Pull off leaves and stems from the strawberries (or better yet, grab the kids and a straw and follow this mad genius tip trick from my friend at Food & Wine, Justin Chapple. Click here.) Cut the berries in half, unless they are super small already. Wash the berries in cold water.
2. Place berries and all the sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process for a few moments. Then add 3/4 cup of water and continue to process until liquefied.
3. Whip the cream in a separate bowl until it thickens slightly, to the consistency of buttermilk. Put the cream and the pureed strawberries in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
4. Freeze according to the directions for your ice cream maker.
5. And a tip from Chef Sal Marino of Il Grano. Throw a small bunch of thinly sliced basil in towards the end of the freezing process and serve with a fresh basil sprig on top. Voila! Strawberry basil gelato.