Chocolate Chip Gelato

One of the things I have in the kitchen that I don't use as often as I should is my KitchenAid ice cream bowl.  It's a bowl that fits on your mixer, which you freeze a day ahead of time and then mix ice cream in.  It has a special ice cream paddle attachment that comes with it and a recipe book.

Home-made ice cream is great because you get to control the quality of the ingredients and pick your mix-ins.  The first time we used the bowl, Eric made amazing (and organic!) pumpkin pecan ice cream that we enjoyed with marshmallow topping.  YUM.  I think we had it in July or August, so we were nowhere near pumpkin time (I blame pregnancy cravings).

Tonight I made simple chocolate chip gelato.  Gelato is a creamier version of ice cream -- denser because less air is whipped into it.  The higher fat content with the added cream is where the creaminess comes from.  It's rich and delicious!  All this required was milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips.  As usual, I like to use organic ingredients where possible.  I used this recipe from Allrecipes, then added about a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a cup of chocolate chips at mixing time.

The gelato base is cooked, cooled for 3-4 hours in the fridge, and then added to the frozen ice cream bowl for mixing.  After 20-25 minutes of slow stirring, the gelato is finished.  It has a soft-serve consistency, and if you're impatient, you can totally eat it now.  However, if you can wait about 6-24 hours, put the whole mixing bowl back in the freezer for firmer gelato.

The eggs and vanilla gave an overall effect of french vanilla ice cream, which I love, but some people may not love.  I'll have to experiment with other recipes to find one that doesn't taste so much of eggs.  And likely involving hazelnuts.  But in the meantime, I have home-made chocolate chip gelato.  Buon appetito!