About this recipe
Guilford Technical Community College’s Culinary School shares a recipe for a refreshing summertime treat: watermelon granita.
Granita is a semi-frozen Italian dessert that originated from Sicily. Somewhat similar to sorbet, granita is icier, lighter and more spoonable. While quite time intensive to make (you must scrape the mixture every 10-20 minutes as it freezes for 1½-2½ hours), it requires very few ingredients.
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Granita can be made with all sorts of fruit, but since watermelon is a seasonal summertime fruit, this watermelon granita is the perfect quencher on a hot, sunny day.
For best results, use a ripe, seedless watermelon. Because the recipe calls for 1½ pounds cut watermelon, use a 2-2½ pound watermelon, as the rind will be discarded.
Ingredients
Watermelon Granita
Directions
Watermelon Granita
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Trim away the rind and white portions of the watermelon and cut into roughly 1-inch chunks.
TIP:
Use a ripe seedless watermelon for the best flavor and texture. -
Place the watermelon in a blender. Add the lime zest, lime juice, sugar and salt.
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Blend until completely smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
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Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a container, pressing to extract all the liquid. Discard solids.
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Transfer the strained mixture to a 9-by-13-inch pan and place flat in the freezer.
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Every 10 to 20 minutes, scrape the frozen portions with a fork to break up ice crystals.
TIP:
Regular scraping creates the characteristic fluffy granita texture.
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Continue freezing and scraping until the mixture is fluffy and slushy with no liquid remaining, about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.
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Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the freezer.
TIP:
Before serving stored granita, fluff vigorously with a fork.
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