Granita al limonedi Papa Antonio

The simple recipe for this great thirst-quenching product on hot summer days is from Gennaro Contaldo’s book “Ginnaros Lemonade”.

Ingredients: peel and 200 ml juice from 2 organic lemons, 200 g sugar

PreparePour lemon juice through a fine sieve into a bowl. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Now add 1.25 liters of very cold water and lemon peel. Pour the mixture into a freezer-safe container and place in the freezer for 45 minutes. Then stir with a fork to break up the larger ice crystals. Put it in the freezer for 30 minutes, then flip again with a fork. Repeat this process several times until the mass is frozen loose (not solid). Serve it in cups.
If the granita is frozen too hard, simply leave it at room temperature for a few minutes so that it thaws a bit and the ice crystals can be loosened with a fork.

book: The simple recipe for this wonderful thirst-quenching product on hot summer days is from Gennaros Limoni by Gennaro Contaldo (Ars Vivendi, see below). Granitas can keep in the fridge for a longer time. With 30 ml of limoncello and 100 ml of Prosecco, Contaldo also turns it into an aperitif: the Limoncello Spritz.

book advice

Gennaro Contaldo:
“Ginaros Lemony”
Ars Vivendi Publishing House,
192 pages, €28.90

Admittedly, this review comes a little late – in part because the best lemons are available in the winter. However, the craving for things sour and refreshing increases as temperatures rise – and in that respect it’s in season again: with lemon-limoncello granita, lemon-Parmesan ice cream or lemon-mint sorbet, you’re certainly right at the current 30 degrees. But author Gennaro Contaldo – by the way, this is the man who introduced British TV chef Jamie Oliver to Italian cuisine and perhaps also the use of olive oil per liter – naturally comes up with a lot. And so he refuses to use lemons as a salad or pizza or stuffed with fish or meat: a good explanation and not overly complicated. Definitely an inspiration for lemon lovers and those who want to become one – summer and winter alike.

(“Die Presse”, print edition, 05.06.2022)