Lemon is a perfect pairing with yogurt, rather than fight the tang of the yogurt, I played into it. It is a creamy and tart served with a fantastic strawberry basil puree on top. Oh yum!
handful of fresh basil leavesreserve a few leaves for garnish
Instructions
Line a large sieve with cheesecloth (or coffee filters in a pinch) and place over a large tall bowl (so yogurt has room to drain), pour yogurt into sieve. Cover top with lining material and place a similarly sized bowl on top. TIP: Place something of weight in the bowl to help speed the process up, I used a jar of jelly. Put yogurt in refrigerator for 4-8 hours. TIP: If you do not have time to strain yogurt, you can use Greek yogurt and skip this step. Once yogurt has been strained it should be reduced almost in half.
In a small saucepan over medium heat bring lemon juice, zest and sugar to a boil (creating a syrup). TIP: The longer the lemon syrup boils, the more it reduces, and the more lemony and tart the end result will be. I like mine very lemony so I allowed it to reduce almost in half. Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature. Remove lemon zest from syrup.
In a large bowl combine yogurt and syrup with a whisk until smooth. Whisk gently at first so you do not splatter the syrup all over yourself. The syrup is too good to waste like that!
Pour mixture into ice cream maker and follow manufacturers instructions.
While ice cream maker is running, prepare strawberry basil puree. Place strawberries and basil in a food processor and blend until desired consistency is reached (I like mine almost smooth).
Remove from ice cream maker and serve immediately (if you like it soft) or place in the freezer to firm up for 4 hours. Allow to sit on the counter for a few minutes to soften up a bit to be scoopable.