Panna cotta with cherries poached in pastis
Poaching cherries in pastis results in a deep, dark crimson liquid that is sweet and sour with a heady aniseed hit. It is something syrupy, exotic and vivid to pour around your white vanilla-speckled set cream. Make the panna cotta the day before you plan to serve it.
'Here's a feast with a Southern French slant to celebrate the end of spring and beginning of summer,' says chef Alex Jackson of Leila's Shop in Shoreditch, E2. It starts with carefully chosen crudités with a punchy anchovy dip, then a simple asparagus tart with seasoned ricotta and Parmesan. Next, a grand aïoli is the most convivial of dishes, centred round a sauce fiery with garlic and heady with olive oil. The main feature is a whole roast John Dory, jumbled with clams, courgettes, more garlic and sweet basil, along with white wine, shellfish and olive oil to create ambrosial roasting juices. To finish, there is a set cream with poached cherries, their crimson liquor spiked with pastis.'
Panna cotta with cherries poached in pastis
Recipe information
Yield
6
Ingredients
For the panna cotta
For the poached cherries
Preparation
Step 1
Pour 450ml of the cream into a pan. Add the vanilla pod or extract and lemon zest, then bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer until the cream has reduced by one-third. Remove the lemon zest. If using real vanilla, split the pod lengthways and scrape the seeds back into the cream, discarding the pod.
Step 2
Soak the gelatine in the cold milk in a pan for about 15 minutes, or until soft. Remove the gelatine, bring the milk to the boil, then return the gelatine and stir until it is dissolved. Pour the mixture through a sieve into the hot cream, stir and then allow it to cool.
Step 3
Lightly whip the remaining cream with the icing sugar and fold into the cooled cream mixture. Pour into six pudding moulds and leave it to chill in the fridge overnight.
Step 4
For the poached cherries, place the pastis, sugar, 100ml water and a sprig of thyme in a pan and bring to the boil. Then add the cherries and cook at a low simmer for about 10 minutes, until the cherries have softened slightly and the poaching liquor has turned a deep red. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the cherries to cool in the liquid. Transfer to the fridge to chill until cold.
Step 5
When you are ready to serve, dip each of the six pudding moulds into a pot of boiling water for just a second or two. This will melt the very outside of the panna cotta and allow it to slip easily from the mould. Turn out each individual panna cotta into a shallow bowl, then spoon over some of the chilled poached cherries and their crimson liquor, and serve.
