Fresh basil pairs beautifully with sweet summer strawberries in this tasty sorbet. Since I had some strawberries cut up already in the refrigerator and my basil was in need of some serious trimming to keep it bushy and from seeding, this was the perfect thing to make for a warm, lazy summer's night treat. I first saw this recipe on Two Peas & Their Pod.
And the dish is super easy to make! All you need is a bit of time and patience....
You will need some equipment to make this sorbet: a food processor or blender and an ice cream maker ( I used Cuisinart ). The recipe itself requires only 4 ingredients. I did strain the mixture before freezing it through a fine mesh sieve, the original recipe doesn't ask you to do this, but I am not big on seeds. I guess I really needed even a finer mesh than what I used, because I still had a lot of seeds in my sorbet....but it was still delicious.
You could omit the basil altogether and just make a very easy strawberry sorbet if you aren't a fan of basil. I doubled the recipe from the original, because I found it made only about two or three servings of sorbet, and if you are going to go through the work of making it, you might as well make enough to last a few days! I also reduced the sugar to make it more point friendly. My strawberries were pretty sweet, so the reduction in sugar was a perfect match.
Fresh Strawberry Basil Sorbet
Servings - approx. 6 Serving size- 1/6th of recipe Points Plus per serving - 3 points+
Calories - 110, Total Fat - 0.6g, Carb. - 27.3g, Protein - 0.9g, Fiber - 3.5g
2 lb. fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled and sliced
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
2 tsp. lemon juice
1. In a med bowl, combine the strawberries and the sugar. Allow to sit at room temperature for 1 - 2 hours, to allow the sugar to completely dissolve and the strawberries to macerate a bit.
2. Once the strawberries are ready, in a food processor ( or blender ), process the basil leaves until finely chopped. Add the strawberry/sugar mixture ( should now look all syrupy ) and the lemon juice. Process until pureed. Refrigerate until mixture is cold.
3. Churn in an ice cream maker, according to manufacturer's directions. ( Mine took about 20 - 30 minutes to freeze into sorbet ). Remove from ice cream maker and spread into a freezer container. Freeze to harden about 3 - 4 hours. Serve and enjoy!
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As I have mentioned before, I am not a huge ice cream/sorbet fan, but the strawberry/basil combo intrigued me. I am glad I tried it. I LOVE fresh basil. Such a taste of summer! And sorbet is so much more diet friendly than ice cream.
Are you a frozen dessert lover? Sorbet or ice cream?
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Hi Renee. Oh MY!!! This looks so delicious. Almost delicious enough for me to go and buy an ice cream maker. :) I need to settle down...but this DOES look incredible. Have a great day!!!!
ReplyDeleteI saw this on two peas and was totally intrigued! I would never think to add basil. I love frozen yogurt the most :)
ReplyDeleteThis looks wonderful! I love basil with strawberries.
ReplyDeleteThat sorbet is beautiful! The idea of making homemade sorbet scares me, but it doesn't seem SO bad. I could probably do this! I want some right now :) I wanted to let you know about my cookbook giveaway that is going on right now until July 16th. Stop on by to enter! Hope you are having a great week :)
ReplyDeletehttp://steaknpotatoeskindagurl.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-first-giveaway.html
Oooooh. This looks amazing. We're going strawberry picking soon, so this will be amazing! Hope all is well with you! <3
ReplyDeleteI would've never thought to pair strawberries and basil, but what a match! This makes my mouth water...especially with the Ohio heat we've had! Today is much nicer by me - I hope you're getting lots of the same up north!
ReplyDeleteHey Renee - love the points on this one! I will have to give this one a try - once our power is back on and I actually have food in our house! :(
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a great week!
Hi Renee, thank you for sharing this last week on Fresh Food Friday/Seasonal Saturday. This sorbet is so lovely that it was selected to be featured today for this week's link-up. I hope that you can stop by, check it out, grab the featured button, and hopefully share another great recipe!
ReplyDeleteI would never have thought of that combo! I like sorbet, ice cream and frozen yogurt!
ReplyDeletemmm! I would have never thought of that!
ReplyDeleteYour sorbet looks fabulous. Thank you too for mentioning my recipe post! x
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