I’ve loved Italian ice since my very first taste of it at Mario’s Italian Lemonade stand in Chicago’s Little Italy back in 1984. I was blown away by the combination of icy, lemony, sweet, and real peel. It’s incredibly refreshing on a hot summer day.
Now that I’ve given up sugar, store-bought Italian ice (like pretty much all frozen treats) is off the menu. But don’t despair. I’ve come up with a recipe that’s super easy to make, fun, and beautiful to serve. At the first taste, I was transported back to Taylor Street on Chicago’s West side on a blistering hot August day. This would be fun and easy for kids to make.
The renovation: The original recipe called for sugar, so I’ve substituted agave syrup. This recipe was adapted from Better Homes and Gardens. I have turned it into a granita, an easy technique I explain below. You can watch a video of me making prickly pear granita here.
You can also use an ice cream freezer to make more of a slushy/Italian ice consistency. However, if you don’t eat it all, it will probably freeze solid, unlike the granita, which will stay perfect in a lidded container.
Other flavor combos:
Lemon juice, zest, and rosemary blossoms
Orange juice and zest with mint
Grapefruit juice and zest with lemon verbena
Let me know what your combinations are!
All of our recipes are gluten-free, sugar-free, and made with plant-based ingredients to help you build a healthy life. We support Meatless Monday. Look for midweek posts on meditation, service, and life lessons, helping you create inner balance.
Lemon-Basil Italian Ice
Ingredients
- 3 cups water (filtered or spring)
- 3/4 cups agave syrup organic
- 1/2 cup basil leaves (fresh) slivered
- 2 tsp lemons peel, finely shredded
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (fresh) freshly juiced
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring water and agave syrup just to a boil, stirring until syrup is dissolved.
- Remove from heat and cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Add the basil or other herbs and let stand for 30 minutes.
- (If using rosemary or lavender blossoms, just stir them in and let it stand, no sieve necessary. They look really pretty in the granita.)
- Pour through a fine mesh sieve, discarding basil.
- Use a Microplane grater to get just the yellow part of the lemon peel. It's an amazing tool. Or, use a peeler to peel the lemons, then finely shred with a paring knife.
- Stir the lemon peel and juice into the syrup.
- Pour into a shallow baking dish. (The larger the better; it needs to fit into your freezer and sit flat.)
- After about 45 minutes, pull it out and rake it with a fork, breaking up any clumps.
- Continue to freeze and rake about every 30 minutes until you have fluffy snow-like ice.
- Serve at once, or store in an airtight container.
Notes
- 91 calories
- 0 g fat
- 0 g cholesterol
- 0 mg sodium
- 163 mg potassium
- 23 g carbohydrate
- 0 g fiber
- 23 g sugars
- 0 g protein
- 2Â Weight Watchers Points
Pegi,
Thanks for your question! I haven't used stevia for this, but I bet it would work. I would bring the water to boil, let cool, add the herbs, strain, and then stir in the stevia until it's dissolved. I would go by taste at that point. Let me know if this works!
And thanks for reading!
Stephanie
I cannot have agave. Do you think this would work using Stevia as the sweetener?
Peg
Robin D,
Thanks so much for your comment. Please post here if you try it… would love to hear how it comes out. I find it fascinating to create such a lovely, icy dessert with so little effort!
Best,
Stephanie
I'm writing this from a Starbucks, so can't really try it now, btu this looks SOOOO delicious! Can't wait to make this for my husband & self!!! Out here in Dallas we're having 105 degree heat right now. This is PERFECT!!!
~Robin D