Lemon & Thyme Yoghurt Panna Cotta with Prosecco Gelée & Roasted Peaches
I love making Panna Cotta when I’m cooking for a crowd - it is so simple and doesn’t involve slaving away over a hot stove for hours on end, and the best part? It has a wow factor (your guests will think you’ve actually been slaving away for hours on end…….our secret, ok?) You can also prepare the Panna Cotta a day or two in advance.
I prefer to use glasses for serving - this alleviates any stress of trying to turn out panna cottas from moulds! Plus it looks really good. It doesn’t matter if you have odd sized glasses - this can actually look really nice. Jars work as well. Up to you!
Tip for young players: I use titanium strength gelatine leaves. These weigh 5g each. If you are using gold strength, you will need to increase the quantity of leaves you use. Gold strength leaves weigh 2g each. So make sure you always check the weight of your leaves rather than going by the quantity! You can use scissors to cut your gelatine leaves.
Lemon & Thyme Yoghurt Panna Cotta with Prosecco Gelée & Roasted Peaches
serves 8 | cook + prep time = 40 mins + 8 hours setting and cooling time
Ingredients
Panna Cotta
650g thick cream, full fat
150g caster sugar
shaved peel of 1 lemon (avoiding the white pith)
generous handful of thyme
20g titanium gelatine leaves (4 leaves)
350g thick plain greek yoghurt
50ml lemon juice
Prosecco Gelée
2 cups Prosecco
3 tbs caster sugar
1/2 peach (no need to slice)
4g titanium gelatine leaves (4/5 of 1 leaf)
Roasted Peaches
4 ripe peaches
1tbs caster sugar
1tbs honey
zest of 1 lemon
6 sprigs fresh thyme
Garnish
Amaretti or biscotti biscuits (optional)
Fresh thyme leaves
Method
Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl and cover with cool water and allow to soak for 5 mins.
Meanwhile, combine the cream, sugar, lemon peel and thyme in a medium saucepan and place over a low-medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and then increase the heat to medium-high. As soon as the cream comes to the boil, remove the pan from the heat.
Remove the gelatine leaves from the water, making sure to squeeze out the excess water, and add them to the hot cream mixture. Whisk gently until the gelatine has dissolved and set aside to cool to body temperature.
Once the cream has cooled, sieve it to remove the thyme leaves and lemon peel. Add the yoghurt to the strained mixture and using a stick blender, mix until smooth (being careful not to incorporate air and create air bubbles. Then add the lemon juice and stir gently.
Pour into serving glasses and place in the fridge for at least 5 hours, or overnight.
Now for the peaches. Preheat the oven to 160C. Slice your peaches into slices around 15mm thick. Place the fruit in a baking dish, sprinkle over the sugar, honey, lemon zest and thyme. Roast in the oven for 10 mins. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
Once your panna cotta has set, it is time to prepare the Prosecco gelée. Place the Prosecco, sugar and peach in a small saucepan over medium heat (I use the 1/2 peach to give off it’s beautiful rose colour from the skin and also it’s delicate perfume to lightly flavour the Prosecco). Allow the liquid to gently simmer for around 8 minutes. Whilst the liquid is simmering, soak the gelatine in cool water until softened. Remove the Prosecco mixture from the stove and discard the peach (or eat it!). Add the softened gelatine (making sure to squeeze out excess water first) to the hot liquid and stir until dissolved. Sieve the liquid into a jug to remove any little bits of peach and set aside to cool. Once the gelée mixture has cooled, pour a layer on top of each panna cotta. Return the panna cottas to the fridge until the gelée has set. Note, this is a very soft set gelée so it will seem very wobbly. The softness of it literally makes it turn to liquid when it hits your tongue - it always makes me think of a tiny prosecco bubble bursting in my mouth. Yeah it’s sexy.
To serve the panna cotta, place slices of the roasted peaches on top, add a biscotti and some fresh thyme leaves. Easy!
Mel xoxo
