The granita, or water ice, is one of the most popular frozen desserts found in Italy. Strawberry granita is a purée of sweetened strawberries frozen until slightly granular or grainy texture.
2 pints of ripe strawberries
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
Using a medium-sized saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil. Stir just until the sugar dissolves. As soon as the mixture begins to boil, set your times for axactly five minutes. It should be a gentle boil, not a furious one. Remove from heat and let the syrup cool at room temperature.
Transfer the strawberries to a colander and rinse gently with cool water. Drain well.
Remove the stems and discard any overripe berries. Purée them in a food mill or blender. Stir the purée into the cooléd syrup. Add the lemon jouice and rind. Pour the mixture into two ice cube trays, from which the dividers have been removed. Freeze for three to four hours, scraping and stirring every 30 minutes. The granita will harden from the edges in toward the center, so be sure to break up the crystals and move them toward the center off the trays. It should have a rather coarse snowy texture.
If you do this ahead of time and the granita is firm, remove the trays from the freezer section about 30 minutes before you plan to serve it, and place in the refrigerator section to soften slightly. Just before serving, break up the granita with a fork until mushy. Spoon into chilled dessert glasses.