Pear sorbet (Sorbetto di pere)

Sorbets are always a nice way to finish a meal if you don't want anything too heavy. They can also be used as palate cleansers between courses. Either way, a sorbet is pretty much always made the same way – a fruit purée is mixed with a little stock syrup in the right quantity to make it freeze. It will become really shiny and soft to scoop. This particular recipe for pear and grappa sorbet is a wicked combo and one of my favourites, so give it a bash. It's great served in a bowl with lovely soft fruits scattered over the top. A good-quality vodka instead of grappa would be quite interesting and, without wanting to sound like a nutcase, absinthe would be nice too, but to be honest most good supermarkets and off-licences sell grappa these days. Nardini is a particularly good brand. This recipe will make enough for 6 people to have a couple of scoops each, but for 4 you can make this amount and keep the rest in the freezer for another day. I suggest you use a fairly shallow earthenware or thick porcelain dish that you can put in the freezer beforehand – this speeds up the freezing process for the sorbet. Try to get really ripe pears – even the ones they sell cheaply in the market. If they're really really ripe and soft to the touch, simply remove the skin and put the flesh into a bowl – you won't need to cook them at all. This is how I did it in Italy when the fruit guy called Pippo at the weekly Terranuova Bracciolini market near Montevarchi gave me a whole tray of pears for free. Go and say hello and he might do the same for you!