Watermelon Granita

Let's finish off watermelon week with one last post. It's a super refreshing cooling version of watermelon. Just looking at the photos cools me down.

Ingredients [yields 6 to 8 servings]:
½ watermelon
juice of ½ lime
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water

Start by scooping out the watermelon flesh and giving it a good whizz in a blender.

Pass the puree through a strainer. Reserve the juice for some watermelon agua frescas or maybe the inebriated melon cocktail that I shared yesterday.

The puree shouldn't be completely dry but it shouldn't be too wet either. Aim for the texture of applesauce.

Squeeze a little lime into a saucepan along with some sugar and water. Heat over low until the sugar dissolves.

Leave the sugar syrup to cool completely.

Mix the syrup into the melon pulp.

Pour the puree into a shallow dish (I used a glass pie pan) and then pop it into the freezer.

Grab a fork and every 30 minutes, scrape at the puree just to break up the frozen pieces. You'll want to set a timer and do this for the next 2 to 3 hours. Aim for a slushy, fluffy texture that's completely frozen.

If you scooped out the melon nicely, you should have a nice little bowl. Scoop the granita into the melon rind bowl and then keep in the freezer until you're ready to serve.

Garnish with a little mint sprig and present to your guests (or maybe just to yourself) and ooh and ahh before scooping and serving.

This granita is super fresh and bright and summery sweet. This whole recipe was actually an experiment. I wanted watermelon juice and I thought it would be wasteful to just chuck the pulp into the trash so I thought I'd make a granita. Turns out, it's an awesome technique because the pulp gives the granita a softer texture. Granitas made with pure juice tend to have a more crystalline, icy texture. This is a perfect faux sorbet.

By the way, a splash of tequila, a salt & sugared rim, and a generous squeeze of lime and this granita would be transformed into an awesome watermelon margarita. Cha cha cha!

Here's the recipe page: