Peach Granita

What is granita? It's an Italian dessert and it's wonderful and that pretty much sums it up. If you must know the details, it's like sorbet, except made with only very fresh ingredients and without any ice cream maker machine. (This is one thing that frustrates me about summer desert... you can only read ice cream and sorbet recipes if you're in the 'I own a really expensive ice cream machine' club. Which I'm not in, which is why I love granita.)

Being that it's early summer, there's an abundance of fresh fruit around. One thing I've come to really appreciate is seasonal eating. Supermarkets have made it seem like all varieties of fruit grow at all times in convenient locations. Like magic, there are strawberries in January, apples in April, and bananas all year round. It sickens me a little, actually. The problem with eating produce out of season is that you loose so much flavor and nutrition, and you probably pay out the waahoo for it. "Sure, I'll buy this styrofoam strawberry in December, because well, it's here!"

The other great thing about eating seasonally is that after going much of the winter without these exotic fruits, the spring and summertime harvest are that much more exciting. The first bite of a ripe peach is like ...... I don't know what. I could get dangerously cheese here, so I'll refrain.

So here it is, a seasonal dessert that I absolutely love. Peach granita. It's really simple, and beats Rita's waterice and bomb pops any day. (Remember bomb pops? Side note: every time I see an ice cream truck drive by, I WANT to want the ice cream truck but now just can't get past how creepy the whole deal is...)

All you need is:

• 2.5 cups chopped peaches (about 4-5 peaches) Please use regional peaches that are ripe, and are NOT the 'white peaches'
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 cup water
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla (or more if you want a a heavier vanilla taste)

In this desert, your final product is a direct reflection of your ingredients. So use good ones!

• In a food processor or blender, process all the ingredients till the mixture is pretty smooth
• Pour into a clean glass dish. It should be fairly big and flat so your mixture will freeze quickly
• Rake the outside edges to the middle every 20-30 minutes until the whole thing is frozen and 'granulated'
• Serve immediately plain or with fresh whipped cream and honey
• If you want to save it, just cover it, and give it a chance to soften up a little before serving again

You can make this with many different fruits. I've made a pretty awesome mango granita, and I think I'll try peach blueberry granita soon.

Note: I have been taking all my pictures with a google phone, which used to take surprisingly good pictures for a phone. Now with the updated software, the camera function has regressed, and my pictures look way worse. One of those instances where change does not always mean progress. This is a rant for another time.