Ginger Watermelon Italian Ice

Italian ice is the perfect way to cool down on hot summer days. This Ginger Watermelon Italian Ice recipe is refreshing and pleasantly gingery.

The End of Summer

Every August, the same things happens. I suddenly realize that summer is winding down. Fall is right around the corner. And then I freak out.

“Summer is almost over! I didn’t eat enough corn!”

“Soon it will be fall and I’ve only bought watermelon 3 times!”

“How can it be August and I haven’t used my ice cream maker yet?”

Yes, I freak out about not eating enough corn. Hush! Corn is delicious!

So like clockwork, that happened this month. I realized I haven’t taken advantage of watermelon being in season and that I haven’t made any ice cream. And really, you can never eat enough corn, can you?

Obviously, I had to remedy this! I made a corn salad and then I decided to kill two birds with one stone and make Ginger Watermelon Italian Ice in my ice cream maker. I first discovered the ginger-watermelon combination when I had the idea to use ginger syrup to sweeten underripe watermelon. In general, I’m a big fan of adding ginger to just about anything. I love the spiciness and, being prone to migraine-related motion sickness and nausea, I love the fact that ginger calms my stomach too. (Do you get car sick? Try ginger gum or chews. The stronger the better.) Ginger gives the sweet, mild flavor of watermelon a little bit of a kick.

About the Recipe

The nice thing about this Ginger Watermelon Italian Ice recipe is that it’s easily adaptable. Do you have a lot of mint growing in the garden? Add that to the syrup instead of ginger. Basil will work well too. Use plain simple syrup and add the zest from a lemon or lime or two for a more citrusy flavor.

Prep Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours
Yield: 8

Ingredients

1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
3 oz ginger root, peeled and cut into thick slices
6 cups seedless watermelon, chopped
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Combine water, sugar, and ginger in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring often. Once syrup comes to a boil, reduce heat to low; simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. The longer you allow the mixture to cool, the more ginger-y the Italian ice will be. Discard ginger or use it to make candied ginger.
Puree syrup, watermelon, and lemon juice in blender or food processor. Refrigerate watermelon mixture for about an hour (you can leave it right in the blender jar or food processor bowl).
Pour watermelon mixture into ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to airtight container and freeze for about 2 hours before serving.

This post was originally published on 13 Aug 2012.