PANACOTTA WITH ROASTED STRAWBERRIES, ORANGE & VANILLA, SERVES 4 PEOPLE.

Ingredients: Panacotta
1 litre of double cream
2 Vanilla pods
2 and a half Gelatine leaves
125ml Milk
125 Grams icing sugar

and for the Roasted Strawberries:
500 Grams of Strawberries
1 Orange
2 Vanilla pods
2 Tablespoons demerera sugar

Method:

Panacotta
Heat 750ml of the cream in a saucepan, add vanilla pods and bring to the boil. Reduce down by 1/3rd, remove vanilla pods, cut down the middle and scrape out the seeds and add to cream mixture.

Soak gelatine leaves in the milk for about 15 minutes, or until it goes soft. Remove gelatine, squeeze excess liquid out. Heat the milk until boiling, add gelatine to milk and stir until dissolved, add to the hot cream, and then leave to cool.

Whip the remaining cream with the icing sugar, until the sugar has dissolved and the cream has slightly thickened. Mix this with cooled cooked cream mix. Pour mixture into 4 small moulds. Allow to set in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours. You will know when it is set as when you touch it lightly with your finger, it will wobble slightly.

Roasted Strawberries
Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees C / gas mark 2

Dice the strawberries and grate the outer skin of the orange, not going too deep. This is the zest. Cut orange in half, squeeze juice into a container, split vanilla pods and scrape out seeds with a knife, keep to one side.

Place strawberries in an oven proof baking dish with the vanilla seeds, sugar, orange zest and mix lightly. Add the vanilla pods & orange juice. Bake for 15-20 minutes until tender. Allow to cool.

Turn out the set panacotta onto your desert plate, garnish with the roasted strawberries and enjoy. Nice with a spoon of creme fraiche too!

Tip:
When turning out the panacotta, lightly dip into warm water, remove, pull cream away from edge of mould before turning onto plate.