THEPIGFOOT

Easter Monday probably isn’t the best time to be posting indulgent recipes (I’m sure most of us have overdone it a bit over the weekend) but I’m home in Italy for another few days and I need to pack in some naughty recipes before I get back to London and some major detoxing.

Panna cotta (literally “cooked cream”) is one of those classics that wouldn’t look amiss at any dinner party, and it’s so simple and so yummy it should really be in everyone’s repertoire.

My lovely sister’s recipe makes 4 generous portions, or 6 smallish portions.

You will need:

• 250ml of whole milk
• 250ml of fresh cream (double or single, again depending on how indulgent you are feeling)
• 70g of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla powder
• 3 leaves of gelatine

Measure out your milk and cream and pour into a saucepan.

Measure out your sugar and add it to the saucepan together with the tablespoon of vanilla powder.

Put the saucepan on a medium heat and stir gently now and again until it comes to the boil.

In the meantime, soak the gelatine in some warm water until it’s soft and pliable. Squeeze it in your hand to get rid off any excess water.

When it boils, take the pan of the heat and add the gelatine. Mix it in, put the saucepan back on the hob and let it boil for a few seconds.

Pour into receptacles of your choosing (let it cool a little if you’re using glass), leave them to cool and when cold transfer to the fridge for at least two hours.

I like my panna cotta plain, but you can top it with whatever takes your fancy: berries, fruit compote, chocolate, nutella (!).

Then sit back and enjoy while perusing your favourite blog posts 🙂