Lemon panna cotta with roasted strawberries - great for entertaining

I love having people over for dinner – feeding people fills me with joy, I could easily say it’s therapeutic. However, I usually get too anxious because I want to cook a fantastic meal, and I usually want to cook several different things, which is not a wise decision when entertaining unless you want to slave in the kitchen the whole time while your husband does the honors in the living room. :S

Since friends and family love my homemade pizza the main course has been a no-brainer lately, but when it comes to dessert I often have trouble making up my mind. I love warm desserts (like this absolutely divine citrus pudding or Bill Granger’s banana pudding), but with the pizzas in the oven I’ve been taking the made-ahead route, with things like mousses and pavlovas.

Panna cottas are another great idea and this one is no exception: you can make both the panna cotta and the roasted strawberries in advance and keep them in the fridge. This dessert has a light texture and is very refreshing – always a good thing after a lot of pizza and a lot of wine. :D

Lemon panna cotta with roasted strawberries
from Good Food magazine and Donna Hay magazine

Panna cotta:
2 ½ leaves of gelatin
600ml heavy/whipping cream
150ml whole milk
200g granulated sugar
finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
finely grated zest of 1 lime

roasted strawberries, made with 200g strawberries + ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar

Panna cotta: Soak the gelatin leaves in a bowl of cold water and set aside.
Put the cream, milk and sugar into a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil. When the cream is boiling, add the lemon juice and the lemon and lime zest and whisk well. Simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, then turn off the heat.
Scoop the softened gelatin out of the water and squeeze off any excess water. Stir into the hot cream, let cool to room temperature, then strain the cream into a jug. Carefully pour the mix into eight 120ml ramekins and refrigerate for at least 5 hours until completely set – overnight is ideal.

Before serving, top each panna cotta with the roasted strawberries.

Serves 8