Limoncello Sorbet

Following on from last week’s Chocolate Salami recipe, I am still dreaming of Italy. We would have been back home this weekend, so I do need to get over my wishful thinking. But I couldn’t resist this last Italian recipe. Limoncello is such a traditional drink, if you have been to Italy you will almost definitely have been offered a complimentary glass at the end of your meal. Limoncello sorbet is a bit lighter and a bit less sweet than the liqueur, but just as delicious. It is easy to put together, and although it is quicker and simpler to prepare with an ice cream maker, it can be made without one, just freeze and mashed up with a fork a few times to stop it freezing solid. It works really well as a sweet canapé or as a light dessert for the balmy warm evenings, that even here in the UK we have been enjoying, although as I type, it is raining!

Ingredients

125g caster sugar

250ml water

Zest of one lemon

60ml lemon juice

60ml Limoncello

1 sprig of lemon verbena (optional)

Method

Bring the water and sugar together to a boil and simmer for a 2 or 3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup has thickened a little. Cool.

Stir in the lemon juice, Limoncello and lemon zest and the lemon verbena sprig if you have one (I have managed to grow some in the garden, so I am adding it to everything I can at the moment. It does add another layer of flavour to the sorbet, a further green fruitiness).

Leave the syrup to chill in the fridge for a few hours.

Strain the syrup and freeze it in an ice cream maker, if you have one. Alternatively pour it into a plastic container and freeze. Before it has frozen solid, take it out of the freezer and break up the ice crystals with a fork. Return to the freezer and repeat this process 3 or 4 times.

It can be stored in the freezer for a month or so.