Prickly pears—or fichi d’India, as they are called in Italy—grow wild and abundant in Sicily and are eaten simply as a fruit, as a salad, or churned into a dessert, as in this recipe for granita. In the Southwestern United States, the prickly pear grows abundant and wild, and when I visited the Salinas Valley in California, I was delighted to see acres upon acres of this cactus plant growing for commercial harvesting. The Mexican culture uses it in their cuisine, but I was especially happy to see a demand for it here in the States. When you find it nice and ripe in your market, buy it and make this simple and delicious granita with it.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Peel the skin from prickly pears (wear plastic gloves). Slice the flesh into pieces, then gently push the pear flesh through a medium-holed sieve, pressing the flesh and juice with a wooden spoon or spatula into a bowl, leaving the seeds behind in the sieve. You should have about 2 cups juice.
Step 2
Mix the orange juice, lemon juice, and sugar into the prickly-pearjuice in a bowl, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Pour the granita juice into an 8-inch square metal pan (or a similar size; you want the granita to be an inch deep or less).
Step 3
Cover, and freeze the granita until crystals begin to form on the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. Stir and scrape crystals and granita, breaking up any solid parts with a fork. Freeze until firm, scraping mixture with fork every 30 minutes to form icy crystals.
Step 4
To serve, scrape granita into chilled serving glasses.
