Panna cotta

panna cotta · from Piedmont · Dolci

Ingredients (for 4 people)

• 500 milliliters fresh cream
• 80 grams sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 3 sheets of gelatin or 4 grams of powdered gelatin
• for the sauce 200 grams fresh strawberries or raspberries
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• juice of half a lemon.

Preparation

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for about 10 minutes.
2. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife.
3. Put the cream together with the sugar, the vanilla seeds and the scraped pod into a pot and heat slowly, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the cream is steaming but not boiling.
4. Remove the pot from the heat.
5. Remove the vanilla pod.
6. Squeeze the soaked gelatin sheets well and dissolve them completely in the hot but no longer boiling cream, stirring.
7. If the cream has cooled too much, it can be briefly and gently reheated.
8. Pour the cream mixture through a fine sieve into a jug with a spout.
9. Distribute the liquid among 4 to 6 molds of about 100 to 125 milliliters each.
10. Let the molds set completely in the fridge for at least 5 hours, ideally overnight.
11. For the sauce, purée the washed and prepared fruit with the sugar and the lemon juice and press it through a sieve to remove the seeds.
12. To unmold, dip the molds briefly in hot water, then loosen the edge with a knife and invert onto a plate.
13. Spoon the fruit sauce around the unmolded panna cotta.
14. The texture should be creamy and delicate; it melts on the tongue.