Directions

• In a sauce pan, combine heavy cream, vanilla bean, lemon zest, and salt. Heat just to a boil and remove from heat, pour cream mixture through a strainer to remove lemon zest. Use a spoon to scrape the inside of the vanilla bean out, add this to the cream.
• In a large, chilled bowl, whisk together eggs with 1/2 cup sugar. Slowly add hot cream, making sure to not cook the eggs, and whisking the egg mixture as you pour. Pour back into saucepan and cook over moderately low heat in a double-boiler, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened and a thermometer registers 170°F.
• Once it reaches 170°F, remove from heat and pour into a chilled bowl. Let it rest until it cools to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Place into your refrigerator for 2 hours to chill.
• Meanwhile, coat the strawberries with sugar and allow them to macerate. After two hours, purée strawberries and sugar until smooth. If you wish to remove the seeds, use a sieve or cheesecloth and squeeze the purée, forcing out as much of the strawberry purée as possible.
• Combine the purée with the cream mixture and transfer to an ice cream maker. Follow ice cream maker instructions on how long to process. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.