Limoncello, Pear And Riesling Granita - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup water
2 cups riesling wine
1/2 cup sugar
2 ripe pears, peeled, seeded and cut into quarters
1/4 cup limoncello
lemon zest (optional) or lemon slice, to garnish (optional)
mint sprig, to garnish (optional)

Preparation

Mix water, 1 cup of the wine and the sugar in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil.
Add pears, lower the heat to simmer and cook the pears gently, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly in cooking liquid.
Drain the pears, reserving the cooking liquid.
Puree the pears in a food processor until smooth (you should have 1 cup of pear puree).
Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the cooking liquid, the remaining wine and the limoncello to the bowl; mix well.
Pour into a shallow metal pan that will fit into the freezer and freeze.
Gently stir the granita every 20 minutes or until frozen to allow the mixture to freeze without separating and give the proper crystalline texture.
Once the granita is frozen, scrape the mixture with a spoon or ice-cream scoop into a pretty glass and serve immediately.
Garnish with lemon zest or a sprig of mint.