I’m not Italian, but I play one in my kitchen☺️.  When I cook and bake Italian recipes, I can only imagine how much better they would taste if I was, in fact, eating them in Italy.

I came across this gelato recipe in David Lebovitz’, “The Perfect Scoop”.  It did NOT dissapoint!  The texture is soft, creamy and ohhhh so delicious!

Gianduja is an Italian chocolate hazelnut spread, like Nutella, only better (just saying😉).

Stracciatella (Shredded into chips) – This process creates the shreds of chocolate that give stracciatella its name, the word meaning “little shred” in Italian. This is acheived by slowly drizzling warm melted chocolate into your ice cream (gelato) during the last moments of churning.

Gelato is the common word in Italian for all types of ice cream.  In English, it specifically refers to a frozen dessert of Italian origin. Artisanal gelato in Italy generally contains 6–9% butterfat, which is lower than other styles of frozen dessert.  Gelato typically contains 35% air (substantially less than American-style ice cream) and more flavoring than other types of frozen desserts, giving it a density and richness that distinguishes it from other ice creams.

In Italian, gelato means simply “frozen” and is the generic word for any type or style of ice cream. In English, however, the term has come to be used to refer to a specific style of ice cream derived from the Italian artisanal tradition.

Ingredients for Gelato:

• 1½ cups (185 grams) roasted hazelnuts
• 1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
• 2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
• ¾ cup (150 grams) sugar
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 ounces (115 grams) milk chocolate, finely chopped
• 5 large egg yolks
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for Stracciatella

• 5 ounces (140 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped and melted

I bought roasted hazelnuts online, but if you want to roast them yourself, this is how to do it ↓.

∗Roast the hazelnuts: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring them once or twice while toasting.  Let the nuts cool, then remove as much of their papery skins as possible by rubbing them in a clean dish towel, a bunch at a time. Don’t worry if you don’t get all the skin off; just do what you can.

Place them in a food processor or pound them in a ziploc with a mallot or rolling pin until thay are the size of large pebbles.

In a medium saucepan, warm the milk over medium heat with 1 cup of the cream, plus the sugar and salt.  Once the mixture is warm, remove from the heat and add the chopped hazelnuts.  Cover and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Put the milk chocolate pieces in a large heatproof bowl.  Heat the remaining 1 cup of cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to boil.  Pour it over the milk chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Set aside.

Place a nutbag or fine mesh strainer over a medium saucepan and pour the hazelnut infused milk mixture into it, squeezing the ground nuts firmly with your hands to extract as much of the flavorful liquid as possible.  Discard the hazelnuts, or spread them on a baking sheet and dry them in the oven for one hour at 175°F.  They are a tasty treat on their own or on ice cream, yogurt or even oatmeal.

Place the saucepan with the hazelnut milk on the stove over medium heat and rewarm it.  Remove from heat.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  Whisking constantly, slowly pour in one cup of the warm hazelnut milk, then scrape the milk and egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan.  Place saucepan on medium heat, and stir the mixture constantly with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula and reaches a temperature of 170°F.  If you’re not sure if it’s ready, dip a wooden spoon briefly in the custard and drag your finger across the back of the spoon. If the line remains, it’s done.  Do not overcook or you will scramble your eggs!  Place a fine mesh strainer on the bowl over the milk chocolate mixture and pour it in.  Discard any remnants remaining in the strainer.  Add the vanilla and stir until cool over an ice bath.  Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours or overnight.

Freeze the gianduja custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  My machine takes about 10 minutes.  When the gelato is ready, with the machine still running, pour the melted chocolate into the ice cream maker in a thin stream. If it’s easier, you may want to transfer the melted chocolate to a measuring cup with a pouring spout first.  Eat the gelato right away if you like it very soft, or place in a covered container and freeze for a few hours or until ready to eat.

Step by step instructions with photos & videos:

Place the ∗roasted hazelnuts in a food processor and pulse 8-10 times or until they are mostly the size of large pebbles.  You can also achieve this result by placing the nuts in a large ziploc and pounding them with a mallot (or rolling pin).