Panna cotta = Piedmont

P = Piedmont panna cotta

a traditional registered recipe since 2001

Let's be real... who doesn't like panna cotta?? Simple and versatile, it's a world wide people pleaser from Piedmont!

Panna cotta literally means cooked cream, and we mean heavy whipping cream. This is because according to the registered traditional recipe here in Piedmont, NW Italy, you make it by cooking heavy whipping cream with sugar, vanilla or a citrus peel, and by adding gelatin. This is the very basic recipe you can serve with fresh fruit, coulis, natural syrups, chocolate and / or coffee sauce. 

Keep reading for our recipe.

Different versions of panna cotta have been around in Europe since at the very least 1244 when Henrik Harpestræg, a Danish doctor who had studied in Sicily, included in one of his books moos hwit - a dessert almost identical to panna cotta.

Even though, up to the 1960s there is no mention of panna cotta in the Italian cookbooks, legend has it that we owe it to a Hungarian lady who in the early 1900s had moved to the Langhe wine district (Unesco World Heritage Site) here in Piedmont.

plain panna cotta with berry coulis and berries: simple yet royal as per our local style

Panna cotta is a very simple and somewhat easy recipe that can enhance all tables: the most refined ones as well as the most unpretentious ones. This is why since 2001 it is listed as one of the traditional foods of Piedmont. 

Despite the many versions with whole eggs, or only the whites (instead of the gelatin) that had been circulating for 700 years around all of Europe, the panna cotta recipe was officially recorded for the first time in 1966 in the Cuneo area (one of the municipalities of Piedmont) by Michelin-starred Chef Ettore Songia owner of I Tre Citroni restaurant.  

For some years, Turin restaurants served it like a crème caramel by topping it with caramel but nowadays, you'll find it with seasonal berries in the summer, flavored with coffee, chocolate or hazelnuts, and following the chef's creativity, also topped with mint or violet essence syrups.

Unlike the US, in Italy you can't find it yet made with Greek yogurt but if you want to make it at home it is pretty easy because you basically need only 3 ingredients for the super basic version.

Our Panna Cotta Recipe

time: you'll need to refrigerate the panna cotta for at least 5 hours, even better overnight

mold: one large mold or 4 150ml - gr / 5oz ramekins or pudding molds

Ingredients for 4 'Italian portions' = 150ml pudding molds / 5 oz molds or ramekins

500ml / 2 cups heavy whipping cream

80gr / 6 1/3 tbsp white sugar

1 pinch of salt

8gr / 0.5 oz gelatine sheets / isinglass (this is what Italians use) or 2gr /0,5 tsp agar agar in powder

1 vanilla pod or some citrus peel (orange, lemon, lime)

Optional flavors:

- 200gr / 1 cup berry coulis (or fresh fruit purée) of your choice

- 150gr / 2/3 scant cup espresso

- 150gr / 3/4 cup dark chocolate tablet to be chopped and added to the heavy whipping cream or to melt and pour on top before serving

- 150gr / 0.5 cup of syrup (mint, violet, grenadine, etc.)

panna cotta in 3 textures: foamy, classic and liquid, with violet syrup, by Turin Chef Luca Barbiero

1 - soak the gelatine sheets in cold water for about 10-15min, skip this step if using agar agar, slightly grease your mold(s) or ramekins

2 - cut the vanilla pod and scrape the beans with a thin knife

3 - warm up the heavy whipping cream in pot and add the sugar, the pinch of salt, the vanilla pod and beans or citrus peel

4 - if you are using gelatin sheets (you'll add them later) never reach the boiling point and remove the pot from the stove as soon as you see tiny bubbles on the surface. 

If using agar agar boil for 5 minutes and then remove the pot from the heat.

Take out the vanilla pod

Now add the sqeezed gelatin sheets and stir well with a wooden spoon or a whisk till there are no lumps

5 - add your fruit purée, coffee, chopped chocolate tablet or syrup and stir

6 - pour the panna cotta into your big mold or your single pudding molds or ramekins, in this case use a ladle or a funnel

7 - allow it to cool down about 10-15minutes before refrigerating for at least 5h or, even better, overnight.

To unmold your panna cotta: boil a pot of water and dip each mold in the hot water for a couple seconds. Use a thin sharp knife to detach the edges, place the serving plate on top and quickly turn it upside down. 

You can serve panna cotta plain, or garnish it with fresh fruit, berries, melted chocolate, caramel, coulis, virtually anything you like!

Any season is good for panna cotta!

Store your panna cotta in air tight containers or wrap it in saran wrap for up to 3-4 days, however, we are sure it won't last that long 😅

For a full Piedmontese experience, keep the terroir and pair your panna cotta with a Piedmont wine from the Langhe wine district:

- Asti Spumante DOCG 

- Moscato d'Asti DOCG 

- Alta Langa DOCG (brut) 

or try our very own Piedmont Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG, a wine from Canavese - Piedmont wine district located one hour driving north from Turin, in its:

- Passito variant made from the fermentation of Erbaluce raisins (sweet to close your meal) or

- Spumante variant for a brut bubbly

Just like Turin, panna cotta will never disappoint you and will always follow the seasons - needless to add, in Piedmont, panna cotta can also be a gelato flavor 😁

Email Lucia: turinepi@gmail.com 

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