Olive Oil Gelato
May 30, 2008
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.)
May 30, 2008 at 10:52 am
YES!!! My prayers have been answered! I can’t wait to dig into that…
my mouth is already watering. I may just have to stop into Otto for lunch today and get some of Batali’s in the meantime. THANK YOU and see you tomorrow! Hi to the kids!
May 30, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Congratulations on your milestone.
What a beautiful looking Gelato – So smooth.
May 30, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Wish I could try a bite!
May 30, 2008 at 2:14 pm
This one blogger I read is aways making gelato like that–olive oil, basil, etc. I would try it, but sadly there seems to be a dearth of fine gelato shops in my area. I’m not curious enough to spring for my own maker, but maybe one day.
May 30, 2008 at 5:50 pm
That is gorgeous! I absolutely have to try olive oil gelato. I can’t believe how good that looks!
May 31, 2008 at 5:39 am
How interesting is your blog! Beautiful pictures and great stories. Warm regards from Poland:)
May 31, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I also am glad you posted the recipe!! 🙂 This looks fabulous, can’t wait to try it! 🙂
June 1, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I never would have thought of making olive oil-flavored gelato. Very intriguing idea. Glad to hear that it ended up so delicious.
June 1, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Olive oil gelato sounds really interesting.
June 2, 2008 at 12:13 pm
This looks really delicious. I’ve seen it around here and there and have been curious. The fleur de sel sounds like the perfect touch!
June 16, 2008 at 11:38 pm
This is simply scrumptious! Well done!
June 22, 2008 at 2:49 am
Finally I tried making this gelato coz I was intrigued of the addition of olive oil in an ice craem. I JUST LOVE IT!!!! Thanks for sharing.
July 1, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Excellent recipe. Just a small suggestion, for such a fancy recipe, it really helps to use a fancy brand of olive oil. I highly recommend trying the extra-virgin olive oil from holyfoodimports.com
It is imported to the US from Israel, and it is produced using cold presses,
as was the method over 3,000 years ago, so it really has a fancy taste to it.
July 24, 2008 at 11:48 am
Hi, lovely recipe, I can’t wait to try it out! Mind if I link to it from my own blog?
July 24, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Be my guest! 🙂
July 24, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Great, thanks!
Keep on writing 🙂
August 28, 2008 at 7:09 am
[…] Olive Oil Gelato from “A beautiful mosaic” […]
June 16, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Question. What olive oil did you use or what olive oil do you recommend for this recipe?
September 27, 2009 at 2:01 am
“My sister-in-law’s husband” How exactly is this person related to you?
May 19, 2010 at 7:07 am
I imagine the relation in that situation is the husband of the sister of their spouse.