The Leonard Home

Living in Atlanta, the summer is unbearably hot. And while I would take one of these stiflingly humid summers over the North’s icy winters, I still can’t help but feel a little tired of it all by the end of June. I’ve been dreaming of the fall’s cooler weather, but until it gets here, I’m making the most of it.

I made this delicious rosemary lemon sorbet for the first time for my Father’s Day 8 course tasting menu, and from the moment I tasted it I decided it could maybe solve all my problems. And if it couldn’t do that, it could at least take my mind off this terrible, terrible heat. It’s like the perfect tall glass of lemonade, with a hint of rosemary to make it even more refreshing. After I juiced my lemons, I scooped out the remaining bits of the crushed sections, leaving behind the beautiful peels and was able to use them as bowls for serving! This worked great for me since I only wanted to serve a few small bites as part of a very large menu, but if you wanted to serve a bigger portion to your guests (like if this was the only dessert, instead of just a palate cleanser) you would want some larger bowls for serving.

I love this recipe because it’s simple, it’s easy, it only has 5 ingredients, and it doesn’t require an ice cream maker, just a regular blender.

The key when you’re making recipes with very few ingredients is to make sure the ingredients you do use are high quality, and fresh. That’s why I used fresh squeezed lemons and fresh rosemary I grew outside. If you aren’t using fresh ingredients, the flavors may be less concentrated.

So let’s get cooking!

First, you’re going to make the rosemary simple syrup by combining 1.5 cups of water, 1.5 cups sugar, and 4 sprigs of rosemary in a small pot on the stove. Stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Once it has dissolved, turn off the heat and set aside.

Now it’s time to get juicing! Slice the lemons in half long ways so you get two halves that can stand up themselves to be used as bowls. The amount of lemons you need is very dependent on the size of lemon you purchase and how juicy it is. Just keep juicing until you get 1 1/4 cups of juice (for me this was about 8 lemons). Scoop any remaining juicy bits out of the lemons with a spoon, leaving just the peels. Pop the peels in the freezer so they stay firm and pretty yellow for you to use later.

Pour the lemon juice into the rosemary simple syrup, and add 2 tablespoons of vodka. Because we aren’t using an ice cream maker this is especially important to keep the sorbet from freezing solid. We’re going for silky smooth and refreshing and the vodka helps us achieve that.

Strain this through a fine mesh strainer to remove any solid bits from the rosemary and lemon. Pour the strained mix into ice cube trays, pop into the freezer and let set until frozen (I waited until the next day). It won’t set fully hard, but should be fairly solid.

Scoop the cubes into a blender and blend until smooth. You can then scoop it into any container and store in the freezer. It will stay soft and scoopable. When you’re ready to eat, scoop the sorbet into one of your frozen lemon halves, then garnish with a small sprig of rosemary. Delicious and refreshing!

I hope you make this yourself and love it! Let me know how it turns out if you make it!