Vanilla Bean Espresso Panna Cotta

My Father was a full-blooded Italian. His parents came straight from Sicily to America. So, we naturally grew up eating a lot of really yummy Italian food in our house. Pasta, Braciole, Lasagna…you name it, we had it. And I was a huge fan of it all (except for desserts).

To me, Italian desserts left a lot to be desired. As a child, the flavors of anise, Amaretto, and almond just didn’t cut it. Nothing was worse than finding a cookie that looked like it was chocolate-filled and finding raisins, or worse, FIGS! What a horror. My dad loved them, but probably to his delight, the kids hated them.

In my own true-to-my-beliefs fashion, I want my first blog post to be a dessert. That’s because it has always been my rule of thumb: If you fear you won’t have room for dessert after dinner, eat dessert first! And this dessert is a perfect choice. Panna Cotta is a silky, flan-custard-like dessert that can take on almost any flavor you put in it. For me, the perfect flavor combination is vanilla and espresso.

The first time I made this dessert, my sister swore it had chocolate in it. The Truth is it just has that luscious mouth feel and taste that you usually associate with chocolate. And what’s bad about that?

Vanilla Bean Espresso Panna Cotta

1 vanilla bean, sliced in half and scraped
1/2 cup skim milk
1 packet unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tsp instant espresso powder
1/3 cup sugar

Let’s start with the vanilla bean. If you’ve never used one before, it’s very simple. Take the long vanilla bean and slice it lengthwise down the middle. Take a half and scrape right down the middle with the sharp side of your knife. You will see a small gathering of vanilla seeds forming on the end of your knife. The bean scrapings are what go into the Panna Cotta. Repeat with the other half of the bean.

Next, place the milk in a heavy saucepan. Sprinkle it with the gelatin. Let stand 3-5 minutes to let the gelatin begin to soften. Turn stove on to a medium heat and stir milk and gelatin until the gelatin dissolves, but don’t let the milk come to a boil.

Add the vanilla seeds, heavy cream, sugar, pinch of salt and espresso to the pan, stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and pour into espresso cups or whatever small container you choose. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Stir twice in the first half hour just to redistribute the vanilla seeds. Garnish with shaved chocolate, whip cream, espresso powder or fruit; what ever you like. Me, I couldn’t decide, so I plated some of each! This recipe makes 6 espresso cup servings.