It’s hard to beat a granita for an easy and cold summertime treat. No need to drag out the ice-cream machine for this one, but the rewards are abundant: fresh fruit attired in an icy texture that is just a few notches above slushy. Too granulated to be sorbet but more substantial than a frozen drink, if you’re unfamiliar with this Italian dessert, you could think of granitas as royal members of a family that is distantly related to the humble snow cone.
Strawberry and black pepper is a nice combination that is interesting enough without much danger of being off-putting to traditionalists. That is, you could probably serve it to your grandmother without complaint - I did, and I don’t think she identified the pepper at all, only that “there’s something a little different”. I did keep the pepper quantity on the low side, but feel free to add more to taste if you like a very assertive bite.
This granita recipe is a very basic one that works with just about any kind of puréed fruit - and it’s happily open to various small adjustments in the sugar and spice quantities. I tend to like them on the less-sweet side, so the fruit flavor shines through and the tartness can be tempered with a dot of whipped cream at times. For a sweeter granita, add up to 4 or 5 more tablespoons of sugar (this also can vary depending on the sweetness/ripeness of the fruit you use)
Strawberry Black Pepper Granita
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 pound strawberries (about 3 1/2 cups sliced )
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste.
Stir sugar, lemon juice, and water in a bowl until sugar dissolves. Place sugar mixture and strawberries in a food processor and purée until smooth.
Stir first 3 ingredients in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Blend 3 cups strawberries in processor until smooth. Add sugar syrup and blend until combined. Pour into a glass or metal 13×9x2 inch pan, and place in freezer. Scrape/stir with a fork every 30 minutes or so, combining the more-frozen edges with the less-frozen center, until the whole thing is crystallized. Use a spoon to scrape into cups or small bowls.
Notes:
This recipe halves easily.
You can make this a day or so ahead, and to achieve the proper texture, take it out of the freezer to thaw a bit before serving, scraping into crystals with a fork as it softens. Alternatively, you could put hard-frozen chunks in the food processor and pulse briefly a couple of times until granulated but not slushy.