Blood Orange Granita

This recipe celebrates two Sicilian gifts to the world: the blood orange and the granita. 

Granitas are a delicate dessert that combines fresh fruit and flaky ice with a little sweetener for a refreshing snack or perfect palate cleanser. Once you give blood orange granita a try, you can use this recipe to transform other peak produce into frozen goodness like lemons, strawberries and other orange varieties. 

Kids will absolutely love making granita just as much as they will eating it! Blood orange granita is a perfect potluck or picnic dish, or something to keep in your freezer for a refreshing snack. This recipe can be doubled or tripled to make a large quantity. Let’s get juicing!

BLOOD ORANGE GRANITA RECIPE 

• Prep time: 15 minutes active, four hours inactive
• Servings: 4
• Good for: kid friendly, gluten-free, vegan, snacks, desserts, frozen treats 
• Difficulty: easy

This easy recipe will come together in no time. Start by getting your basil, zest and juice together. Then, you will make a simple syrup as a base for the fruity ice. The basil, zest and juice will incorporate while cooling to enhance the final flavor. In this recipe we keep it rustic, but you can pour the cooled mixture through a sieve one more time if you prefer a final granita without basil leaves.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup fresh squeezed blood orange juice (3-4 blood oranges)
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 4 basil leaves, fresh
• 1 tablespoon blood orange zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean or paste (optional)

EQUIPMENT:

• Citrus press or squeezing dish
• Microplane or paring knife
• Mesh sieve
• Small, heavy bottomed saucepan
• Spoon
• 8-9 inch freezer safe glass pan with lid
• Fork  

RECIPE:

• Prepare the fresh ingredients. Zest the peel of one blood orange for a scant tablespoon of fresh zest and set aside. Then, slice the blood oranges in half to squeeze one cup of fresh juice. Strain the juice through a mesh sieve and set aside. Finally, stack your basil leaves on top of one another and roll them together longways before slicing the rolled up basil into thin ribbons (this is called chiffonade, you fancy fruitie!). 
• In the saucepan over medium heat, make a simple syrup by completely dissolving the sugar in the water, stirring occasionally. Do not boil, and remove from heat once sugar is incorporated. 
• Pour the hot syrup into the pan, then stir in the fresh blood orange juice, zest, vanilla and basil ribbons. Allow it to cool completely on the counter for about 30 minutes, then place in the freezer.
• After freezing for 30 minutes, grab your fork and gently break up the thin layer of ice to make flakes. Allow to freeze for a few more hours, breaking up any newly formed ice every 45-60 minutes until all of the fruit mixture has frozen into a fluffy, flaky dish of blood orange and basil ice. 
• Serve your granita in a glass dish piled in an icy snowball of blood orange goodness.

Make this easy granita a day or two ahead of time for a special event. It will keep in the freezer in a sealed container for about one month.

How did you like this blood orange granita recipe? Try even more blood orange recipes from FarmStand on our blog.