Last weekend in Southampton was perfect — walks on the beach, frolicking with Julia in the pool and long, late dinners with our good friend Maria Moyer. On Saturday morning, I decided to use the lemon verbena growing in our garden to make gelato to follow the seafood paella I had planned for dinner.
Maria, an artist and photographer, took pictures of me at work. The sweet, herbal gelato is light, refreshing and delicious. If you have this fragrant herb in your garden or can find it at a farmers’ market, you should make a batch. I’m going to quit talking, though, and let Maria tell the story.
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup sugar
About 1 1/2 cups fresh lemon verbena leaves (unpacked)
1. Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan. In a small bowl, combine the corn starch and a few tablespoons of the milk mixture. Whisk or stir until smooth and set aside.
2. Put the lemon verbena leaves into the milk mixture and bring to the boil.
3. Cover and let steep for at least half an hour.
4. Strain out the leaves and return the fragrant milk mixture to the saucepan.
5. Add the cornstarch slurry, sugar, corn syrup and salt and bring to the boil, stirring frequently.
6. Strain again into a metal bowl place into an ice bath and chill for about half an hour, stirring occasionally. Or, chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours before freezing.
7. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When the gelato is the consistency of soft serve ice cream, transfer it to a metal or plastic container and place in the freezer for at least two hours before serving.
Serve alone or with fresh summer fruit.
