Strawberry Granita

This is the recipe to make when there's a real glut of ripe strawberries. It's a much nicer way to conserve them than simply freezing them. The granita looks like sparkling jewels when you serve it in tall glasses – and it contains hardly any calories!

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This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Summer Collection.

Method

First hull the strawberries, then put them in a colander and rinse them briefly with cold water. Drain well and dry them on kitchen paper before transferring them to a food processor or liquidiser. Blend them to a smooth purée, then stop the motor, add the sugar and blend again very briefly.

After that add 1 pint (570 ml) water and the lemon juice, blend once more, then pour everything into a fine nylon sieve set over a bowl. Rub the purée through the sieve, then pour it into the polythene freezer box, cover with a lid and put into the freezer for 2 hours.

By that time the mixture should have started to freeze around the sides and base of the container, so take a large fork and mix the frozen mixture into the unfrozen, then re-cover and return it to the freezer for another hour. After that repeat with another vigorous mixing with a fork, cover again and re-freeze for a further hour. At this stage the mixture should be a completely frozen snow of ice crystals, and is ready to serve. It can remain at this servable stage in the freezer for a further 3-4 hours, but after that the ice will become too solid and it will need putting in the main body of the fridge for 30-40 minutes or until it is soft enough to break up with a fork again.

I like to serve the granita in small, narrow, unstemmed glasses – but any wine glasses will do so that the sparkling colour can be seen in all its glory.