Lemon Panna Cotta, with Lemon Rosemary Marmalade, & Pistachio Crumble

---

Prep Time:  15 minutes    Cook Time:  30 minutes    Serves:  8

---

Panna Cotta is Italian for “cooked cream”,  and is a traditional northern Italian dessert that is sweetened and thickened with gelatin.  Panna cotta is an easy and approachable dessert for beginners, but can be a beautiful showcase for fresh ingredients and subtle flavors.

This recipe makes several servings and will hold for a couple of days in the fridge, so it’s great as a make-ahead dessert for a dinner party.  To remove the panna cotta from the ramekins and serve, run a knife along the edge of the ramekin.  Place a small plate over the top of the ramekin and flip, so the ramekin is on top of the plate and the panna cotta comes out.  Serve with the marmalade and crumble and fresh lemon zest.  

---

ingredients:

Marmalade

• Peel from 3 lemons
• ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup fresh rosemary; finely chopped
• ¼ cup water
• ¾ cup sugar

Panna Cotta

• 1 cup whole milk; divided
• 2 tsp unflavored gelatin
• 2 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Peel from 1 lemon

Pistachio Crumble

• ¼ cup pistachios; shelled
• 6 tbsp butter
• ½ cup flour
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ¼ tsp salt

method:

Place a large saucepan of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Add lemon peel and boil for 5 minutes. Drain, then repeat another two times. Let the lemon peel cool then slice into a thin julienne; then once more in half.

Place a small heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in sugar, lemon juice, and water until sugar dissolves. Add in lemon peel and bring to a simmer.  Cook until mixture is reduced to 2/3 cup and an instant-read thermometer reads 225°.  Cover and chill.

Pour a ½  cup milk into a medium bowl and sprinkle in gelatin. Let the milk and gelatin sit until gelatin softens, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine cream, sugar, vanilla, lemon peel, and remaining ½ cup milk in a large saucepan. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking until sugar dissolves. Remove mixture from heat, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.

Bring cream mixture back to a simmer.  Add gelatin mixture and stir until completely dissolved, then strain. Divide mix among eight ¾  cup ramekins. Chill uncovered until panna cotta is set, at least 6 hours. Cover and keep chilled.

In a food processor, pulse the pistachios a few times until roughly chopped. Add the flour, sugar, salt, and pulse until the ingredients are just combined. Add the melted butter and pulse a few times until the mixture forms pea-sized crumbs.

Transfer the crumbs to a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until crumble starts to brown at the edges, about 15 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and using a flat spatula, flip the crumble over, piece by piece, so that the browned side is now on the bottom. The pieces will break apart; this is O.K. Bake for another 8 to 10 minutes, or until the crumble is golden-brown and very crisp. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely before breaking apart into crumbs.

Poached Pears, Lavender Earl Grey Mascarpone, Honey Graham 'Earth', & Candied Honey Chip

---

Prep Time:  20 min    Cook Time:  1 hour    Serves:  2

---

This is a perfect dessert for a winter dinner party, elegant but not too rich.  Early grey tea, honey, and lavender marry together well and play off the tanginess of the mascarpone, which  adds a luxurious texture.  The prep and assembly for this is also refreshingly simple, and the components can be made a day ahead of time to give you one less thing to worry about when entertaining guests. The only thing to watch for when making this is the honey chip.  Use a silicone baking mat or parchment paper on a baking tray and monitor closely to ensure you don’t burn the sugar.  

---

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 ripe (but still firm) bosc pears; peeled, halved, and cored
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup strong earl grey tea
• 6 tbsp honey
• 4 sprigs fresh lavender
• ½ cup mascarpone cheese
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp blackstrap rum
• 4 honey graham crackers

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Soak pears in water and 1 tsp of lemon juice to keep from browning.  Combine white wine, tea, honey, vanilla extract, lavender, and remaining tsp of lemon juice in a medium sauce pot over medium heat.  Stir mixture until the honey dissolves and gently add pears to poaching liquid cut side down.  Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until pears become very tender; about 30 minutes. Flip the pears over about halfway through to ensure they poach evenly.

Meanwhile, put the graham crackers in a food processor and run until they become powdered, set aside for later.  

Once the pears have finished remove from the poaching liquid and drain on a wire rack.  Cool the pears in the fridge.  Bring the poaching liquid back up to a low boil and reduce to about ¾ cup.  Reserve ¼ cup of the syrup.  Drizzle a small amount of the syrup onto a parchment or silicone mat lined baking tray and place in the oven.  Monitor the syrup in the oven closely, once it begins to bubble and brown slightly at the edges, remove the tray from the oven and place to the side to cool.  

Add the mascarpone, sugar, and rum to a large bowl of a stand mixer and whisk.  Add in the reserved ¼ cup syrup and whisk on high until peaks form.  Place the mascarpone in the fridge to set.  Reserve the remaining syrup to drizzle over the pears once you are ready to serve.