Julia Childs, the beloved French chef, author and television star, might not have been particularly happy in Italy.
Compared with the elaborate and often rich and creamy desserts for which Julia was famous, Italians prefer simple desserts and very “quiet” endings to a meal. A full-course Italian meal usually includes pasta as a first course, so a lighter dessert is usually welcome.
What do Italians like to eat at the end of a meal? There are some rich Italian desserts for sure, like tiramisu, zuppa Inglese (a rum-soaked cream cake), and a Sicilian Easter pie made with ricotta cheese and dried fruits. And most of us have feasted on cannoli—fried pastry tubes filled with sweetened cheese.
But so many Italian desserts shine in their simplicity and, like other Italian dishes, focus on the season. A simple rice custard cake doused with sweet, dark cherries is lovely in the summer months. In the fall, the lush pear groves, especially in Tuscany, produce fruit that is poached in sweet white wine. In the winter, chestnuts are steeped in grappa, a strong, brandy-like spirit that, as my father would say, “puts hair on your chest!”
You may also just find some beautiful cheeses on the dessert table, like creamy gorgonzola or good Parmesan drizzled with a balsamic glaze and served with table grapes. At our house, we often end our dinners with cups of espresso and small glasses of Sambuca (anise-flavored liquor) or sweet limoncello.
One of my favorite “simple” Italian desserts is panna cotta, which is said to originate from the Piedmont (northwest) region of Italy. The name means “cooked cream,” even though the mixture is barely heated and not really cooked. It is a wonderfully light dessert, and June is the perfect time to make it.
June is strawberry month to me, so the recipe that follows is served with the sliced, sweet, homegrown berries of early summer.
PANNA COTTA
Ingredients
- 2½ teaspoons (1 packet) unflavored gelatin (They still sell Knox gelatin at the grocery store in the pudding section. Look for the little orange box.)
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ vanilla bean
- A small lemon zest strip
- 4 cups sliced strawberries (You can sweeten them slightly, if you wish.)
Directions
- In a large bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the milk. Let stand for 2 minutes to soften.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, stir together the cream, sugar, vanilla bean and lemon zest. Cook, stirring occasionally, until small bubbles appear around the edges of the saucepan. Remove from the heat.
- Remove the vanilla bean and let it cool briefly. Then split the bean open with a sharp knife and scrape the seeds into the cream with the tip of the knife.
- Slowly add the cream to the gelatin mixture, stirring until completely dissolved. Pour into 4 custard cups or ramekins, dividing equally. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours up to overnight.
- When ready to serve, run a small knife blade around the inside of each ramekin to loosen the cream. Invert each ramekin onto a dessert plate.
- Arrange the strawberries around the creams and serve. (Looks so pretty with a little sprig of mint for garnish.)
You can serve a mixture of berries with the panna cotta if you prefer. Blueberries and red raspberries mixed with the strawberries are delicious. If you can’t find whole vanilla beans, you can add a very small “shot” of vanilla extract. Or be daring—try the creams with caramel or warm chocolate sauce. But, somehow, strawberries seem best to me.
Enjoy the beautiful month of June!
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