Pomegranate Panna Cotta

P A N N A C O T T A

My sister made Panna Cotta for a dinner party recently and I posted a photo of her dessert on instagram. I suddenly received numerous messages and DMs for the recipe. Before sharing the recipe, I had to try it myself and get it right. After a few attempts and tweaking of the recipe to the right consistency and taste for me and my husband (he was the official taste tester) as well as trying different flavor options, I now present to you this well awaited recipe for Panna Cotta; an Italian dessert with a rich, smooth, creamy jelly-like consistency. It’s good as it is by itself or when topped with berries, compote, or even jelly!I made it with vanilla Panna Cotta on the bottom, topped with pomegranate jelly with a little doctoring up of the jelly to make it even more delicious. Many of my insta-tribe from my earlier months know of my love of pomegranate. Pomegranate is full of free radical fighting antioxidants, contains folic acid, as well as Vitamin A, C and E, is absolutely delicious and I use it in so many recipes! Total win win win situation! So delicious!To get the jelly right, do not use standard Jello. I find using halal jelly like Ahmed or Rafhan is the best. I’m not sure why their jelly is a more jelly-like consistency as compared to Jello brand jello; perhaps the gelatin ratio is different. Their jelly is just the right consistency to meld with this dessert. For the Panna Cotta, I bought kosher gelatin from Amazon. For serving, I used 11 ounce stemless wine glasses from the Restaurant Depot and also used 8 ounce mason jars. I found the stemless wine glasses look great but the serving is too much for one person. The mason jars were definitely a better option. I think for a future attempt, I’ll use 4 ounce mason jars.