Salted Hazelnut Praline Gelato

Okay, hazelnuts are not in season yet but who doesn't like a good gelato recipe? The intensity of the praline all comes down to how you toast those hazelnuts. A little to much and they burn, not enough and you won't have unleashed they're full nuttiness. Also this recipe is exceedingly rich so a little goes a long, long way with this. You don't have to add the salt but it cuts the richness and goes lovely with the caramel. Even without it though it tastes wonderful. Oh, and you don't need an ice cream maker for this or need to spend hours manually forking it through!

Serves 6-7

2 eggs separated

1/4 cup or 50g of caster sugar

1/2 & 1/3  cups or 200 ml of heavy / double cream

1/3 & 1/4 cup or 100g brown sugar

1 & 1/3 cups or 200g of chopped hazelnuts

1/2 tsp of maldon or other sea salt (optional)

1. Roast the hazelnuts in a dry a pan until you can hear them sizzling and smell nutty and rich. Pour them out of the pan into a bowl while you make the caramel. Put the brown sugar in the same pan and heat until it's liquid and bubbling. Throw in the hazelnuts and stir them in the caramel until they're evenly coated then place on some foil to cool.

2. Once cool, place the hazelnuts in a plastic zip-lock bag an cover in a tea towel and hit with a rolling pin until broken up into smallish pieces. Put the praline into a food processor and pulse-cop until it turns into a paste. Sprinkle in the salt (if using) and pulse-chop again to incorporate.

3. Whisk the egg whites until stiff then slowly add the sugar, whisking in well after each addition. Whip the cream until at soft peaks then fold into the egg whites along with the egg yolks. Ripple in the praline and freeze overnight.