One Great . . . strawberry recipe for spring

Strawberry season is coming so fast, it may arrive ahead of the Easter baskets this year. The best of the local berries won't arrive for a couple of weeks, but there will be berries in the stores before you know it.

Nigel Slater's magnificent new book "Ripe: A Cook in the Orchard," captures the joy of fresh fruit grown in all seasons. When it landed on my desk last week, I immediately flipped to strawberries and found this very simple version of strawberry ice cream. It's so basic, you don't need an ice cream freezer.

Strawberry Ice

From "Ripe," by Nigel Slater (Ten Speed Press, $40).

1 pound very ripe strawberries
1/2 cup superfine sugar (see note)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Rinse the berries quickly under cold, running water and remove their leaves. Cut each berry into three or four slices, then put them in a bowl, sprinkle with the sugar and set aside for an hour.

Lightly whip the cream. You want it to be thick enough to lie in folds rather than stiff enough to stand in peaks.

Put the strawberries, sugar and any juice from the bottom of the dish into a food processor and whiz until smooth, then stir gently into the cream. (How thoroughly you blend the two is up to you. Slater notes that he likes to leave a few swirls of unmixed cream in the mixture.)

Transfer to a freezer-safe box, level the top, cover with a lid or a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper, and freeze for three to four hours. Stir occasionally as it freezes, bringing the outside edges into the middle.

Remove from the freezer about 15 to 20 minutes before serving to bring it up to temperature.

NOTE: Slater calls for superfine sugar, which blends more easily. You can find it in some stores, or you can pulse granulated sugar in a food processor a few times. However, you also can try making this with granulated sugar, since most it will dissolve while the strawberries sit.

Yield: 4 servings.