foodperson.com

Yes, the spaghetti and meatballs were fine, but the lime granita for dessert was what got my guests’ attention the other night. (Well, that and the marvelous Ultrafast Avocado Soup that Angela brought as an appetizer. An amazing recipe and dish.)

I don’t own an ice cream freezer and have had mixed results in the past with frozen dessert attempts, but this one was bliss, a perfect light, cold end to a meal that was probably too heavy for the weather. And my first try at granita, no less!

Do try this at home! You won’t be sorry. The end result is a sort of intense lime slush. I adapted the Lemon Granita recipe from Patricia Wells’ Trattoria cookbook. (There’s also a newer edition, for whatever that’s worth.)

Lime granita

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 1/2 cups water

1. Combine all ingredients in heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved.
2. Pour resulting syrup in 9-inch-square aluminum cake pan. When cooled to room temperature, place in freezer for 15 minutes.
3. Stir syrup and scrape frozen particles from the sides. Use fork to break up ice crystals, and return to freezer 15 minutes.
4. Repeat step 3 until you have a mound of fluffy frozen syrup, two or three hours. (I would think it best to serve within a couple of hours.)
5. Serve in chilled glasses. (Wells recommends serving in champagne coupes, but I didn’t want to bother washing them.) Makes six servings.

Note: Limes were on sale and juicy. It took only three and a half limes to get a half-cup of juice.