I’ve always been somewhat of a food purist. I’m probably the only person over the age of five that actually prefers a plain cheese pizza to one with a zillion toppings. Pasta nirvana for me is a bowl of spaghetti with Marcella Hazan’s three ingredient tomato sauce. And, I take my vanilla ice cream straight up – no add-ins, thankyouverymuch. Actually, my very favorite ice cream flavor is fior di latte, which doesn’t even have vanilla in it. It’s not that I don’t appreciate more complex flavor combinations, because I do. But sometimes, I just like to savor the purity of really good ingredients, like fresh, local, organic cream from happy cows; or sweet and juicy, ripened by the sun, heirloom tomatoes. And, I love that soft tug against my teeth when I bite into a buttery, melting mass of fresh mozzarella that was made by real hands.
I like my panna cotta straight up as well. I also enjoy it flavored different ways. But to me, nothing says heaven more than a soft, pillowy cloud of simply sweetened, pristine creaminess, adorned by nothing more than a smattering of fresh berries. Oooh! I get goosebumps just thinking about it!
Filed Under: Cooking, Custards and Puddings, Italian, Quick and Easy, Recipes