Panna Cotta

I fell in love with panna cotta before I went to Italy. It’s a really simple but delicious dessert that when most people try it, really, really like it. Even for those who don’t like cream.
I’m talking about cream because that’s basically what the panna cotta is made of. If you translate that to english it would be called “cooked cream”. Believe it or not it is as good as it gets. I know there are so much more elaborate desserts all over, but when perfectly made, this is one of my favorites.
But let’s continue my story about my experience with the dessert. I tried it some years ago and quite liked it. What I didn’t know was that it wasn’t well made.
When I went to Italy to eat something differen,t I decided to have the panna cotta. Oh my God!!! I spent so much money, not to talk about the pounds I gained, trying to eat panna cotta almost everyday and sometimes more than once at a time.
It was crazy. My Italian friends had a blast. The thing about the Italians is that they all think they can cook (and most of them really can!). I left Italy with some recipes and advice about the dessert.
I did try some of them, but the best one that I found was a combination of a panna cotta, that I got from a californian chef, with the sauce that I made myself with red berries and balsamic vinegar. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Panna Cotta

Ingredients:

1 and ½ cup of heavy cream
½ a cup of milk
4 tablespoons of sugar
¼ of a teaspoon of salt
1 small envelope of gelatin
3 tablespoons of cold water

Directions:

Dissolve the gelatin with cold water in a bowl and put to the side. In a pot, put the cream, milk, salt and 3 spoons of sugar. Place on the stove in medium heat. Stir when necessary. When it starts to boil, wait a minute before turning it off. Add the last spoon of sugar and the gelatin. Wait for it to cool down a little and put small amounts in separate bowls.Then put it in the fridge for 3 hours. When it’s time to serve, just pass a knife over the sides and put it in a plate making a little bit of pressure for it to come off. Add on the topping of your preference.

Red Berries Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup of berries
4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of sugar
¼ teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together,put it in the fridge to marinate for one hour and serve it with the panna cotta.

*Sound track for this recipe: La Mia Storia Tra Le Dita