This is what I came up with when I put my mind to creating a dessert made from vegetables. I sweetened freshly juiced beetroot, fennel, and ginger and then turned it into a sorbet. To keep the flavor as fresh as possible, I heated only part of the juice to allow the sugar to melt. The flavors complemented each other nicely. The balance is important, not too sweet and not too much ginger. Now I only need to think of a better presentation. You could also change this in to a palate cleanser by reducing the amount of sugar (or by adding a juiced pear instead of the sugar).
This recipe is easy if you own both a juicer and an ice cream maker. I do own the latter, but not yet a juicer. It is on my wish list. In the meantime, I have to make do blending the vegetables and then straining out the juice. It works, but a proper juicer is much better and a slow juicer would have a higher yield and better quality juice. If only they weren’t so expensive (and take so much space).
Ingredients
For about 600 ml (2 1/2 cups) of sorbet
250 ml (1 cup) freshly juiced fennel
250 ml (1 cup) freshly juiced beetroot
100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar
1 Tbsp of fresh ginger juice (to taste)
Preparation
Combine the beetroot juice and the fennel juice and stir to mix.
Put about 125 ml (1/2 cup) of the mixed juice in a saucepan and add the sugar.
Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Combine the sweetened juice with the rest of the juice.
Add a tablespoon of freshly squeezed ginger juice (grate the ginger first and then squeeze the grated ginger in your fist, catching the juice in a bowl).
Cover the juice with plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill.
To make the sorbet, pour the chilled juice in the ice cream maker.
Churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions to obtain the sorbet. Serve at once or transfer to a plastic container and put in the freezer.
Flashback
Pasta with peas and pesto: very quick, very easy, very green, and very tasty.
Nice one! I love the color. Did you ever try the red onion gelato they make in southern Italy? I want to give that one a whirl next. PS My favorite spot in Sicily turned out to be Cefalu.
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I’ve never heard of red onion gelato. It sounds intriguing — I will look into it!
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We saw it in Tropea, another very special place we visited in May on our way to Sicily.
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Ah, I do know that red onions are called “Tropea onions” in Italy. Now I know why, thanks!
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What an original sorbet! The color is so gorgeously vibrant! Love this!
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This is one dessert even yours truly would happily eat . . . only one way to find out about it 🙂 ! Oh, my new ‘food centre’ including a proper juicer and bought at a ridiculously low price on line in one of those ten-minutes-and-gone sales is sitting on my sofa waiting to be unpacked! One more reason 🙂 !
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Very inventive Stefan. I would never have thought it possible.
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I bet your creativity surprises even you, Stefan. 🙂
I don’t recall ever seeing or hearing about a sorbet this original. Well done!
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Thanks, John. I discovered the flavor combination in the cafetaria at work, where you can prepare your own vegetable juice. Then it was only a small step to turn it into a sorbet 🙂
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