Sicilian Strawberry Granita

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir gently until the sugar has completely dissolved, then bring to a brief boil for 1 minute to form a light, clear syrup. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely to room temperature — adding warm syrup to the strawberries will cook them slightly and dull their vivid fresh flavour. You can speed this up by setting the pan in a bowl of cold water. The syrup can be made up to a day ahead and kept in the fridge.

Place the hulled strawberries in a blender or food processor with the cold sugar syrup, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Blitz until completely smooth — a full minute of blending ensures no fibrous pieces remain. Taste the mixture: it should be intensely strawberry-forward, bright with lemon, and slightly sweeter than you want the finished granita to be, since freezing dulls sweetness. Adjust with a little extra lemon juice if needed. Pass through a fine sieve into a shallow freezer-proof container, pressing with a spoon to extract every drop of juice and leave the seeds behind.

Pour the strained strawberry mixture into a wide, shallow metal or ceramic dish — the shallower and wider the dish, the faster and more evenly it freezes. Cover with cling film and place in the freezer. After 45 minutes, check the mixture: the edges will have begun to freeze while the centre remains liquid. Using a fork, scrape the frozen edges into the centre, breaking up any solid pieces into coarse, icy crystals. Return to the freezer. Repeat this scraping process every 30–40 minutes for 2.5–3 hours total, until the entire mixture has transformed into a mass of loose, ruby-red, coarse crystals with no liquid remaining.

Granita is best served straight from the freezer the moment it reaches the right texture — loose, icy, and scoopable, never frozen solid. Spoon generously into chilled glasses or small bowls, piling it high. If the granita has been in the freezer for longer and has frozen too hard, scrape it vigorously with a fork for 2–3 minutes to break it back up into crystals before serving. Garnish with a small fresh basil leaf or a single perfect strawberry slice on the rim of the glass. Serve immediately — granita waits for no one.