While meandering through the cobblestone streets of the Trastevere section of Rome, just south of Vatican City, on the west bank of the Tiber, we came across a gelateria tucked away on a very narrow cobblestone street. The store couldn’t have been 50 square feet in total. That of which freezers took up most of the space. The vibrant colors and flavor combinations were abundant.

You may be wondering what the difference is between ice cream and gelato. It all comes down to creaminess, denseness, air, fat content and serving temperature. Gelato is more creamy, and dense, (without using large amounts of cream or eggs), but contains less air and fat as ice cream. Gelato is traditionally served at a higher temperature, about 12 degrees warmer which makes it easier to scoop. Here’s a great and currently written article for NPR called The Salt.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/06/16/413223571/why-scream-for-gelato-instead-of-ice-cream-heres-the-scoop

The other night while I was reminiscing about this wonderful trip, I decided to try my own hand at gelato. I opened up the cabinet and collected ingredients and got to work. This is what I came up with. I hope you give this recipe a try.

4 large, firm bananas (1 reserved and chopped into 1/2″ pieces, set aside)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon brandy or Cognac (optional)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Peel all the bananas, set one aside (chopped into 1/2″ pieces), break apart the remaining 3 and add to a food processor or blender along with the sugar. Blend until liquified. Add the milk, heavy cream, brandy or Cognac and vanilla. Blend on high for 2 minutes. Fold in the banana pieces and the chocolate chips. Transfer to the ice cream maker (optional), and let run for an hour until the mixture is thick. If you don’t have an ice cream maker just add the mixture to your preferred, freezer safe containers. This recipe yields about 1 & 1/3 quarts. Freeze for 6-8 hours or overnight.