Panna Cotta
Travelers on the recent Bicycling Sardinia – Alghero to Cagliari trip devoured a wonderful Panna Cotta which inspired Italian tour leader Lisa Merighi to share her grandmother’s recipe with us. It’s a simple recipe with just a few ingredients, but working with gelatin does require a certain amount of care and diligence for your results to be successful.
Ingredients (Serves 4):
- 1 vanilla bean
- 3 grams gelatin sheet (also known as leaf), or 1 ½ teaspoons of powdered gelatin, vegetarians can substitute with 1 ½ teaspoons of powdered agar-agar. ( Tips for cooking with gelatin and agar-agar)
- 8.5ozs fresh cream
- 2/3 cups powdered sugar
Preparation:
- If you are using gelatin sheets immerse in cold water for 10 minutes.
- Cut the vanilla bean open.
- Put the cream in a sauce pan and add the vanilla bean (If you prefer you can substitute the vanilla bean with orange peel).
- Add sugar and heat gently without reaching the boiling point.
- Wring the gelatin sheets well and place in the hot cream.
- Stir thoroughly until the gelatin has melted completely.
- Prepare one large mold or 4 individual ones.
- Pour the cream through a strainer into the mold(s).
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Before serving, turn the mold on to a serving dish and add berry sauce.
- Frozen berries cooked slowly in a pot until thickened with a little sugar and lemon are the best!
Buon appetito!