Italian cream gelatin slightly sweetened with stevia glazed with cherry pomegranate molasses, garnished with pomegranate seeds and basil Xyla. YUM!
Panna cotta is an Italian dessert made with rich cream, sugar, vanilla and gelatin. Despite it's decadent taste and appearance, it's extremely easy to make lectin free with only one ingredient swap.
The best panna cotta I've had is at Settabello. It's an Italian eatery located in downtown Salt Lake City. Their version is very basic. Just cream, vanilla, sugar and gelatin, topped with a strawberry glaze. Made right, panna cotta should taste like unadulterated sweet cream with a hint of vanilla. Of course sugar is not okay if you're on a lectin free plan. So we need to do one swap for this recipe to make it Lectin Free Gourmet.
To make this classic dessert lectin free, I used pure stevia instead of sugar. That's it! I found a wonderful basic recipe for classic sugary panna cotta from my chef crush, Gordon Ramsay. He makes a very fancy holiday version of this dish with a pomegranate reduction.
I adapted Gordon's recipe just a bit to exclude sugar. I made cherry pomegranate molasses from Knudsen's Just Tart Cherry and Just Pomegranate juices. And I garnished my Lectin Free Gourmet dessert with fresh pomegranate seeds and basil Xyla. Ready for the recipe? Let's roll!
The Recipe
Lectin Free Gourmet Panna Cotta
2 Pints Grassfed Heavy Cream (I like Organic Valley)
1 t SweetLeaf Organics Stevia Sweetener
1/2 t Pure Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 T Organic Beef Gelatin Powder
4 T Water
1 C Knudsen's Just Tart Cherry
1 C Knudsen's Just Pomegranate
2 T Xyla
4 Basil Leaves
Pomegranate Seeds
Instructions:
Step 1: Make the Gelatin
In a small bowl, dissolve 1 1/2 tablespoons organic beef gelatin in 4 tablespoons water. Set aside.
Step 2: Heat the Cream and Stevia
In a medium saucepan, bring the cream and stevia to a boil. Whisk constantly. Once the cream has come to a boil. Remove from heat.
Step 3: Add Vanilla and Gelatin
Add vanilla and dissolved gelatin mixture from step 1 and whisk until completely smooth and creamy. Pour into four dessert dishes or martini glasses.
Step 4: Cover and Chill
Cover the desserts with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on top. Place in the refrigerator for 4 hours or until chilled and set.
Step 5: Make the Cherry Pomegranate Glaze
While the desserts are chilling, make the cherry pomegranate reduction. In a small saucepan add 1 cup of 100 % tart cherry juice and 1 cup of 100 % pomegranate juice. On high heat, reduce to about 1/2 cup until aromatic and syrupy. Remove from heat. The reduction will cool and thicken to a pourable syrup consistency.
Step 6: Make the Basil Xyla
In a small food processor, put Xyla and fresh basil leaves and pulse on high about 15 - 20 times, scraping the sides if necessary. Pulse until the basil leave are finely minced and blended well with the Xyla crystals.
When you're ready to serve your panna cotta, remove the plastic wrap. Pour about 1 teaspoon of the reduction on the top of the panna cotta and swirl until the molasses reaches thinly coats the entire top of the dessert. The reduction is very tart so a little goes a long way, but it really adds another level of OMG to this dessert. Spoon some pomegranate seeds into the center and place a dollop of basil Xyla on top of the seeds.
This dessert is pretty special and could be the one for Christmas dinner.
ENJOY!
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