Russ Parsons's Peach Gelato

It's been quiet around here, I know. It's not that I haven't been blogging, it's that I haven't been eating. People, it's too damn hot. All I can stand to do, besides drinking so much water it's coming out of my ears, is eat a yogurt every now and then, or maybe a graham cracker or two, and even that might be pushing it. Leafing through my recipes while I wilted in the heat brought me absolutely no satisfaction and the most appetizing thing I could think to do was to go sit in an air-conditioned movie theater (watching this, which you must must must go see) and drink yet another bottle of water.

But then I realized that the latest Sugar High Friday was going to feature frozen desserts and when I stumbled across this simple three-ingredient recipe which transforms frozen sugar-sweetened peaches and a dollop of yogurt into gelato without an ice cream machine, I figured I had to try it out. The recipe comes from Russ Parsons (who else?) who learned the technique from a Sicilian chef named Ciccio Sultano (I have a distant cousin named Ciccio in southern Italy, so this endeared the recipe to me from the get-go) who was named by Gambero Rosso to be one of the great young chefs cooking in Italy a few years ago.

But let's be honest, the most appealing thing about the recipe was the short ingredient list and the simplicity. Peeling three pounds of peaches sounds annoying, but it took me less than 15 minutes. I chopped the peeled peaches into small dice, then froze them in a single layer. I went out for a drink to celebrate the last day of Ben's job (Ben got a new job! Cause for much rejoicing around these parts) and came back to whizz the frozen peaches in the food processor with a bit of sugar and a few spoonfuls of yogurt.

After a minute of processing, a creamy, pink mass came together in the bowl. I tried a spoonful - it was delicious. I put the bowl into the freezer to firm up for another 20 minutes and then had myself of bowlful of the light, refreshing gelato. Not too sweet or slickly fat, the peach flavor was gorgeous and the consistency was satisfyingly creamy. I froze the rest of the gelato overnight and it crystallized and became much harder - all you have to do to remedy this is pulse it in the food processor again (my camera pooped out last night, so what you're seeing up there is the crystallized, more frozen version from this morning).

But you really should eat this the same night you make it - it's just better and fresher that way. Besides, what else are you eating in this heat that you can't have gelato for dinner?

Peach Gelato
Makes 6 to 8 servings

3 pounds peaches, peeled and pitted
1/4 cup sugar, or more to taste
1/2 cup mascarpone, creme fraiche or yogurt

1. Cut the peaches into very small pieces. The smaller you cut them, the faster they will freeze and the finer the final texture will be. Arrange the peach pieces in a single layer on a rimmed cookie sheet and freeze solid, about 2 hours.

2. Put the frozen peach pieces in a food processor with the sugar and grind briefly. Add the mascarpone and pulse until the mixture is smooth.

3. Empty the food processor into a small container and freeze again, 20 to 30 minutes, before serving. If the ice cream freezes solid, simply process it again briefly before serving.

Comments

[Meghan]

This may be a horrible question in the middle of peach season...but...do you think this could be done with store-bought frozen peaches?

[Tanna]

Peaches are perfect right now. Your gelato looks gorgeous! It is too hot to move.

[Julie]

Your post is well timed for me. I was contemplating trying a peach sorbet and seeing how it turned out when made without an ice cream maker, but your recipe looks much better than the one I was thinking of using.

[Tanvi]

This sounds and looks so amazing, I am on my way out to buy peaches this instant!

[Polly]

I don't have a food processor, do you think a blender would work just as well?

[Delilah]

I cannot wait to make this recipe, its 102 degrees here and your timing of ths recipe is perfect. Thanks!

[andrea]

thanks for the great post! i was just wondering what to do with the surplus of peaches in my fridge! plus, it's so hot here in LA right now, and i've always wanted to make ice cream, so i love that this is doable without an icecream maker! ...by the way, that was a GREAT film, i loved it as well!

[Keesha]

This looks great. Read this month's Gourmet. There's a fantasic article on getting creative with ice cream. Yummy.

[Luisa]

Meghan - you could certainly use frozen peaches, but I think they're chunked much larger, so you'd need to somehow get them into smaller pieces and then make sure they were still frozen stiff. Plus, I don't know about the flavor.

Tanna - I agree. It's too hot even to think, really.

Julie - I'd love to know how it turned out for you! I'm sort of in love with the idea of an ice-cream machine, but I hate the idea of yet another appliance. But sorbet! And Ice cream, homemade! Sob. So this was a good substitute.

Tanvi - great! Hope you like this.

Polly - I don't know. I have a feeling it'd be fine. But a blender does liquefy more than it processes... Maybe err on the side of less blending and see how it goes. Let me know!

Delilah - fantastic! It's really all you can eat in this kind of weather.

Andrea - I almost want to go back and see it a second time. ;)

Keesha - I'll have to check it out. Do the recipes require an ice cream machine?

[Kristin]

Thanks Luisa for posting this--I had no idea how easy making gelato could be, and I am also excited to see that it is relatively healthy too!

[Garrett]

*drooling on keyboard*

[Sofia]

Thank you for this gift! What a great recipe. One question: did ALL of the peaches fit into the food processor at once? Or did you do it in batches?

[Luisa]

Kristin - you're welcome! It's nice to be able to eat large quantities of something so cool and refreshing on days like today.

Garrett - well! My gelato is flattered ;)

Sofia - that's sweet, you're welcome. Yes, the peaches all fit into my food processor at once (it was VERY full).

[VeuveClicquot]

Thank you so much for providing an alternate way of making gelato/sorbet! I've been wanting to make it for a while (oh the heat!!) but was hesitant to do so without an ice-cream maker.

[Dunja]

Finally I'm ready to try this "merveille" of yours (or Ciccio's). I bought all ingredients.
But I have just one question about food processor. Mine has 2 type of blades. First one is a really sharp one which I usually use for chopping fruits, vegetables etc. The other one is made of plastic and is perfect to mash potatoes or to beat the eggs, cream etc.
Which one I should use to process frozen peaches? The first one maybe?

Best wishes!

[Luisa]

Veuve - you're welcome!

Dunja - Yes, use the metal blade! Absolutely. Hope it turns out well for you.

[Dunja]

I've made it (with a blade, like you suggested). I used yogurt, flavor "chantilly".
We were two and we finished the ice cream the same evening! We loved it. It was more than perfect (both: its taste and its consistency), it was incredible!
Thank you so much for this discovery!

Dunja

[heather]

i want to try this so bad, but i really don't like peaches. do you know of any other flavor that would work the same way or similar?