Melon Granita

Cool and delicately flavored, this granita is an ideal dessert after a barbecue or other spicy meal. Plan ahead as you'll need to start 4½ or 5 hours before you plan to serve the granita. This untried recipe is from the May 28, 2006 edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and posted for Zaar World Tour II.

• Ready In: 20 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 1 quart

Ingredients

• 2  lbs  ripe honeydews or 2  lbs cantaloupe or 2  lbs  persian melon
• 3 1⁄2 tablespoons lemon juice (divided)
• 1⁄3 cup sugar
• 1  lemon, zest of, grated
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (optional)
• 1  pinch ground nutmeg
•  fresh mint sprig, garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Peel, halve, and seed melons; cut into chunks and place in medium-sized bowl, reserving ½ cup of the melon chunks in another small container.
2. To the reserved ½ cup of melon, add 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice; toss to coat; cover and refrigerate.
3. To remaining larger bowl of melon, add sugar, remaining lemon juice, lemon zest, allspice, pepper (if using) and nutmeg; toss to mix; cover and marinate melon in refrigerator for 2-12 hours.
4. Strain juices from larger bowl of melon chunks into a small saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat and cook 1 minute; remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
5. Combine marinated melon chunks and reduced juices in a food processor or blender; puree until smooth; pour into a bowl, cover, and chill for 2 hours.
6. Pour pureed and chilled mixture into ice cream freezer and freeze according to manufacturer's directions; serve topped with reserved diced melon and fresh mint sprigs.
7. NOTE: The name "granita" comes from a Spanish word meaning small grain or, by association, granular texture.