Cucumber Panna Cotta with Strawberry Jelly Recipe

How to Make Cucumber Panna Cotta with Strawberry Jelly

Method

  1. Make pana cotta first. Place the cream, milk and sugar in a medium-sized pot on a low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then add the diced cucumber. Bring to just under the boil, then take off the heat and leave to cool and infuse for 30 minutes.
  2. Pour the cooled mixture into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture back into the pan through a fine sieve, pushing the cucumber pulp gently down with a spoon to extract all the flavour. Discard the pulp.
  3. Leave the liquid mixture to cool slightly and then slowly sprinkle over the lime jelly and stir until throughly dissolved.
  4. Pour the pana cotta into 4 equal-sized moulds. Cover the tops with plastic wrap and chill for at least 5 hours (preferably overnight).
  5. To make strawberry jelly, purée the strawberries using a stick blender or mortar and pestle, then pass them through a fine sieve into a bowl, pushing the pulp so that the juice strains through.
  6. Prepare the strawberry jelly according to packet directions and before refrigerating, stir through the strawberry purée juice. Place the jelly in a shallow, non-stick, jelly roll baking sheet to create a layer of jelly approximately 1cm deep.
  7. Leave it to set in the fridge, along with the pana cotta. When fully set and firm, cut out circles with a pastry cutter – about the same size as the pana cotta moulds. Reserve in the fridge until ready to serve.
  8. To serve, remove the pana cotta from the moulds by gently warming up the sides in a shallow bath of lukewarm water.
  9. Place 1 strawberry jelly disc on each of  4 plates, then turn the pana cotta moulds upside down onto the strawberry jelly discs.
  10.  Top with strawberry and cucumber slices.