Mojito Granita

From The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Tis the season for mint growing out of control.  Make a granita - a frozen treat that can be served as a slushy, with berries or with ice cream or frozen yogurt, or served with a little rum as a drink.  It's  a refreshing treat for a hot summer's day.  And the perfect addition for a BBQ!

My husband thinks ice cream and chocolate chip cookies are their own food group.  So this year for his birthday, I got him an ice cream maker and have been trying recipes from The Perfect Scoop.  This one is mixed by hand - no ice cream maker needed!  But it does go well with vanilla ice cream or frozen Oatly or soy - as in So Delicious brand.  It takes some attention, but well worth it!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
2 limes - Zested, trying to get only the green peel
1 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from 3-6 limes, depending on size)
3 Tbsp white or light rum
Container for freezing - preferably plastic, or a Soma container, 8-12 inches across, and 2" high, with 2 quart capacity.

Directions:
1) Add the water and sugar to a small nonreactive saucepan, then grate the zest from the 2 limes directly into the saucepan.  Bring the mixture to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved.

2) Reserve 5 of the mint leaves and add the remaining mint to the saucepan and remove from the heat.  Cover and let stand for 8 minutes, then remove the cover and let cool to room temperature.

3) Once it's cool, strain the mixture in to the container you plan to freeze the granita in, pressing firmly on the leaves to extract all the flavorful liquid.  Discard the mint leaves.

4) Stir in the lime juice and rum, then finely chop the reserved 5 mint leaves and add them as well.

5) Place the mixture into the container and place in freezer.  After an hour, stir the mixture, stirring up the frozen parts near the edges with a fork.  Continue to check every 30 minutes or so and break up the chunks until you have fine crystals.  If it's too hard to be stirred, leave it at room temperature until it can be stirred again and then return it to the freezer.