Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl of room temperature water. Make sure they are emerged into the water and leave them to soften for 5-7 minutes.
While the gelatin is melting, put a small saucepan on the stove and add the cream. Warm it up at a low-medium temperature making sure it does not boil.
When the cream has been warming up for around 2 minutes, add the sugar and stir through gently using a spatula before adding the vanilla essence (or your choice of flavour – or spirit).
Remove the saucepan from the stove once you start to see the small bubbles appear and leave to the side.
For this panna cotta recipe, it’s important to now pick up the gelatin leaves from the bowl – which should now be soft – and squeeze all the excess water out and drop them straight into the hot cream and keep stirring so that it dissolves well.
How to make the strawberry topping:
Remove the green part of the strawberry and cut in half, and then in half again.
Put a small saucepan on your stove at a medium heat and place the strawberries inside before adding the sugar and 2 tablespoons water.
Once the sugar starts to melt, mix the strawberries using a spatula and help any excess sugar drop into the water so that you can no longer see it.
Leave to simmer for no longer than 5 minutes and they will soften and release quite a lot of liquid.
Pour the strawberry mixture into a blender and blend until the strawberries have disappeared but don’t blend for too long as you want the sauce to remain thick in texture.
Once you are sure there are no lumps and your gelatin has disappeared, pour the panna cotta into silicone moulds or glasses (to serve). Use small portions as it is quite rich!
Cover the moulds or panna cotta with plastic wrap, making sure no air gets inside and place in the fridge for a minimum 4hr – or overnight to ensure the result is nice and dense.
Transfer it into a glass or a utensil that has a pouring spout and cover with plastic wrap. Once cooled, leave it in the fridge until the panna cotta is ready.
E ora si mangia…Vincenzo’s Plate….Enjoy!