Arugula Ice Cream
Ready for something different? With the last of the arugula popping up in our garden, it's perfection for this time of year. This ice cream is not only pretty it’s delicious. This time of year there’s a lot of fresh arugula at the market. Buying it from the farmer is a totally different experience than getting it at the store. The nutty and peppery flavors that you get from farm-fresh arugula are as striking as any herb which to me is a great indication that it would go well in a gelato just like rosemary or basil would. But what to pair the gelato with depends on whether you use cane sugar or glucose to make it. If you use glucose, the sweetness will be so minimal that you can use it in salad, like a carpaccio di fragole (a.k.a thinly sliced strawberries) with balsamic, fresh arugula and olive oil. And don’t worry: while glucose may sound fancy and hard to get, the light corn syrup you use for pecan pie is mostly glucose."
Arugula Ice Cream
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
- ¾ cups whole milk
- 1 ½ cups sugar (or glucose or light corn syrup)
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 3 cups puréed arugula (about 3-4 bunches of field arugula)
- pinch of salt plus salt for boiling arugula
Note: There is no acid in this recipe because it will destroy the green color
Preparation:
Blanching and Puréeing Arugula: Prepare a bowl of heavily iced water. This will be used to immediately cool down the arugula after it cooks. Bring a saucepan full of water to a boil. Salt the water lightly. Throw in the arugula and let it cook for three to five seconds. Remove it from the boiling water and immediately plunge it into the ice water. As soon as the arugula becomes ice cold, about 20 seconds, put it into a blender. Don’t worry too much about water that stays with the arugula as it goes into the blender. This will help the arugula blend into a smooth purée. Add a couple of ice cubes to the blender before starting to ensure the arugula won’t heat while blending which will allow the beautiful green colors to be , preserved. As you blend the arugula to a purée, add water and ice to the blender as needed to ensure the arugula has enough liquid to blend. Store the arugula purée in the fridge until you are ready to add it to the ice cream mix. Keeping it cool will ensure that its color will stay green and that the flavor won’t weaken.
Making Ice Cream Base: To make the ice cream, heat ½ cup of the whole milk plus the heavy cream in a small saucepan on high heat along with 1 cup of sugar. Stir occasionally to make sure that it doesn’t stick to the bottom. In a bowl, mix together the remaining sugar and cornstarch (mixing these two ingredients together ahead of time helps avoid lumps). Mix in the remaining 1/4 milk. Add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan. Mix slowly while it comes to a boil. When the contents of the boil, reduce the heat to low. Pour the mixture into a sealed container, and store in the fridge over night. Once cooled whisk the arugula with a pinch of salt. Place into an ice cream maker for about 30 minutes. Place into a glass container and cover in the freezer for at least 3 hours before serving. Garnish with fresh sliced strawberries and serve.