Prickly Pear Sorbet

From the garden

• 3 lb ripe prickly pear fruits (tunas), spines singed off, peeled · deep magenta fruit gives the color; to yield 3 cups strained juice
• 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, torn (optional) · to finish

From the pantry

• ¾ cup granulated sugar · for the syrup
• 3 tbsp lime juice · about 2 limes: tuna juice is low in acid and tastes flat without it
• 1 pinch salt

1. Handle every fruit with tongs and thick gloves. Past the visible spines the skin carries glochids, hair-fine barbs that bury themselves in bare hands. Rotate each tuna over a gas flame or grill until the glochids singe off in little flares, then scrub under running water.
2. Trim both ends, slit the skin lengthwise, and peel it back from the flesh. Drop the flesh into a blender and pulse in short bursts only. The seeds are stone-hard and should stay whole rather than shatter.
3. Press the pulp through a fine sieve with a rubber spatula, working it until only seeds and fiber are left behind. Measure 3 cups of juice; expect roughly a cup of juice per pound of fruit.
4. Warm the sugar with 1/4 cup water over medium heat, stirring about 2 minutes until it dissolves, then cool it completely. Stir the syrup, lime juice, and salt into the juice and chill the base at least 2 hours, until cold to the fingertip.
5. Churn in an ice cream maker until it mounds on the paddle, 20–25 minutes, then firm up in the freezer 2 hours. Without a machine, freeze in a shallow pan and beat hard with a fork every 30 minutes for 3 hours.
6. Scoop into chilled bowls and finish with torn mint. Serve it in something plain and pale, because the color is most of the pleasure.