Italian Ice for a Hot, Hot Day!

  It has been super hot here in the mid-west the last few days, I mean record breaking hot! Streets are buckling, trains are derailing, and people are dying of the heat exposure. Most everyone has been closed up in their houses with the air on. I was talking with my husband on skype, as we always do each morning when we're apart, talking about the heat and how bad it is. Of course the conversation then always turns to food options, and I start dreaming of all the cold, yummy things I could be eating in Italy.  One of those things is Italian ice, or "la granita", (grahneetah). In southern Italy they make 3 basic flavors of granita; coffee, lemon and strawberry. They serve it with or without whipped cream or "panna". I like it with the "panna". (I like everything with "panna"!) So, I thought, wait a minute I can make granita di caffe, my father-in-law made it all the time.

My old school espresso maker.

So, I got out my espresso maker, mine is old school, the classic type you use on the stovetop. It makes about 3-4 cups of espresso. You can buy them at your neighborhood Italian goods store or anywhere that sells international products.

The 3 sections to my espresso maker.

If you've never seen or used this type of espresso maker, it's really easy. You fill the bottom section(left) with water just up to the safety pressure valve on the side. Place the filter piece (center) into the bottom, fill it with the espresso coffee grounds. Then screw the top section (right) tightly on top. Put it on medium high heat and within about 5-10 minutes the espresso coffee will seep out the spout in the top and fill it up. (You might want to turn it down just a little when it starts coming out so it doesn't splatter). 

Granita di caffe after being "racked" with a fork.

I made two pots of espresso, put it in a low ceramic dish with 2-3 tablespoons of sugar. Then I put the dish in the freezer. After about an hour it was just starting to freeze up so I took a fork and scrapped it off the sides of the dish and raked it all around, then back into the freezer. I set the timer for 30 more minutes. (You don't want to forget about it in there cause it will freeze up too much.) Take it out and rake up with the fork again. Keep doing this in 10 minute increments until it's a nice firm frozen slush. And that's it it's ready!

In Italy they serve it "parfait" style, with granite on the bottom, a layer of whipped cream, more granite, then top it off with more whipped cream. They'll have it for breakfast ,a mid-morning or afternoon snack with a warm brioche or  cornetto! What's not to like! (The strawberry and lemon are awesome, too!) I added a sprinkle of cocoa on the top and to make it special I used a martini glass. 

 Mmmmm e' buonissima!
I feel like I'm right there in Italy! (well kinda)