Ever since visiting Mario Batali’s Otto shortly after moving to New York, I’ve been obsessed with the olive oil gelato there. I’ve tried other recipes for it but haven’t had much success. So, for this round I figured I’d follow the recipe that they use in the restaurant, but with one small tweak.

I’ve never been able to find the perfect olive oil for the recipe—most aren’t quite fruity enough. So, I opted for a lemon infused oil instead. I was wary of how it would turn out, but the lemon oil was the right choice. It turned out perfectly. Just the right amount of lemon flavor to be refreshing but not overpowering. I can’t wait to try this recipe with other flavored oils as well.

Olive Oil Gelato
adapted from The Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali, also available on Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup extra-virgin lemon olive oil

Directions:

In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the milk and cream. Cook until bubbles form around the edges of the pan.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed until thick and tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and beat until combined, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Slowly add 2 cups of the hot milk mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, beating until just combined. Slowly pour the yolk mixture back into the saucepan, whisking with a handheld whisk until combined. Place the pan over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon and a candy thermometer registers 175°F, about 15 minutes.

Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Place the bowl in a larger one partially filled with ice water and cool the custard to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.

Transfer the custard to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer the gelato to a chilled container, cover and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours or up to 3 days, before serving.

And now for the photos:

I followed Diana’s lead and visited the Filling Station to pick up their lemon olive oil.

Here are all the ingredients. Next time I’ll experiment with cutting back the sugar.

Warm up the milk and cream, but without the sugar for this recipe.

To make sure it’s light and airy like traditional gelato, whip the eggs and sugar in a stand mixer.

The mixture should triple in volume, and turn this pale, creamy yellow.

Slowly add in 2 cups of the hot milk mixture. (Sorry this photo is a bit blurry. Taking photos while attempting to not scramble the eggs proved tricky.)

Add the egg, sugar, and milk mixture into the rest of the milk, and reheat until it is thick and a thermometer reaches 175 degrees Fahrenheit.

Then chill, and run through the ice cream maker, and you’ll end up with this:

Enjoy!