This is a classic Italian dessert that basically consists of cream set with gelatin. The literal translation of panna cotta is ‘cooked cream’. This recipe is flavored with fresh, pureed strawberries. I like to make a strawberry coulis by pureeing an extra cup or two of the berries, straining the seeds and combining with sugar to serve on the side of the panna cotta as a dessert sauce.
This recipe calls for 1 package of gelatin, but, if your feeling ambitious, try only adding 3/4 of the package instead of the full. The best panna cottas are set with the smallest amount of gelatin possible.
*** These panna cottas are deceptively easy!***
Ingredients: Serves 6
- 3 cups Strawberries, stems removed
- 1 1/2 c. 1% Milk
- 1/2 c. Whipping cream
- 1/3 c. Sugar
- 1 envelope gelatin(Knox is a great brand)
- 1/2 t. Vanilla
- Puree 2 cups of strawberries in a food processor. Pour puree through a strainer, pressing with a rubber spatula to extract as much puree as possible. Discard the remaining seeds. Reserve puree.
- Whisk the milk, cream, and sugar in a heavy medium saucepan.
- Sprinkle the gelatin over the liquid and let it stand until the gelatin softens, about 10 minutes.
- Whisk the mixture constantly over low heat just until the gelatin dissolves and the mixture is lukewarm(about 3 min.) Remove from heat.
- Whisk in the pureed strawberries and vanilla.
- Divide the mixture evenly among 6 3/4c. custard cups or molds. ***Very lightly greasing the molds with a canola oil cooking spray before filling will help the panna cottas come out easier when serving.
- Refrigerate the panna cottas for at least 4 hours, or overnight. When ready to serve, use your pointer finger to lightly pull the edges of the panna cotta away from the mold. This will help loosen it and enable you to invert the mold onto a plate without the dessert breaking.
- Garnish the panna cotta with a strawberry coulis, or toss sliced strawberries in honey and spoon over the top of the panna cotta.
