Olive Oil Gelato

Homemade olive oil gelato

 I’ve reached a bit of a landmark here on my blog – I’ve received my first recipe request.  My sister-in-law’s husband is a fan of Mario Batali’s Otto Enoteca Pizzeria on Fifth and 8th St. in Manhattan, and especially of their olive oil gelato. 

“You … you can make that?” he queried hopefully. 

“Absolutely,” I assured him with the bravado of the very arrogant or the very foolish.

A quick google search later, I discovered that Chef Mario had included the recipe for his famous olive oil gelato in one of his cookbooks.  Thank goodness.

 

Olive Oil Gelato

(adapted from The Babbo Cookbook)

6 egg yolks
1 C. sugar
2/3 C. extra virgin olive oil
3 C. milk
1 C. heavy cream

Combine the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Use the whip attachment to beat them for 5 min on medium speed, or until the mixture is thick and very pale and forms a ribbon when the whip is lifted.  Continue beating and drizzle in the olive oil; beat for 2 more minutes.

Warning:  this recipe uses raw eggs.  Williams-Sonoma has a variation of this recipe with cooked egg; however, it does add a couple of hours to your cooking time since you must wait for the mixture to cool completely.

Add the milk and cream and continue to beat until all ingredients are combined.

 

Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.  This took some planning since I needed to pre-freeze the bowl of the ice cream maker for 8+ hours.

I thought it would taste fruity, but no, it tastes like olive oil.  However, olive oil paired with frozen cream is unexpectedly delicious and refreshing.  The sweetly salty fluer de sel is the perfect counter to the rich creaminess of the gelato.  Molto bene, Mario.

 Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of fluer de sel sea salt. 

(Your gelato is in the freezer, Blake.)