Panna Cotta means “cooked cream.” If you check out the link to the Wikipedia page on this traditional Italian dessert, you’ll see a photo showing panna cotta with blackberry sauce.
My friend Vesna, who made the version pictured here on the left, went that chef one better I think. She had full-of-flavor Concord grapes to use up. So she cooked and strained them, then reduced that with some red wine and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Her simple vanilla panna cotta with that sauce was fabulous.
I am always reluctant to deal with gelatin, which is required for this dessert, but she says it’s really quite simple, so I plan to give it a try soon. Like so many other things we avoid in the kitchen, once you try it, you wonder why you waited so long!
NJ SPICE 