I am incredibly honored to host one of my best “blogging buddies” today for a guest post. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to post for her, and now she has reciprocated. The more I learn about Naz, the more I discover commonalities and traits that we share ~ and the more I want to meet this amazing woman face to face! (Someday, we plan to rendezvous in the heavenly hills of Italian bliss).
Naz creates exquisite brilliance and brings food to life at Cinnamon Eats.
Naz creates exquisite brilliance and brings food to life at Cinnamon Eats.
You’ll see…
When I first came across Ashley’s blog, Craving4more, I was immediately hooked! Here was someone with a true passion for food and it showed. It shows in the way she writes, the way she captures her food and in the way she creates amazing recipes… always creating culinary magic with the flavours she puts together. I knew quickly that I wanted her to guest post for my blog Cinnamon Eats and you can read that post here.
When Ashley, in turn, asked me if I would guest post for her blog, I was so excited! Not only because, like I said, I LOVE her blog, but because over time we have started to become ‘blogging buddies’ and as I continue to know more about her the more I’d love to meet her some time in the future… who knows, maybe one day in the Italian countryside? 😉
So I started to think about what I wanted to share in my guest post for Craving4More readers and of course it all came to me one night when I was just about to fall asleep in bed! I have no idea where this idea came from but two words popped into my head… pistachio and fig! Then I found myself unable to sleep because all I could think about was how I was going to put those two things together! I let it go, went to sleep, and the next morning I thought PANNA COTTA! I mean who doesn’t like panna cotta? And if you say “me”… then I’m sorry I don’t have anything to say to you, joking… kind of 😉 AND if you don’t know what panna cotta is then Google it, my friend, and you will be greeted with pictures of a luxurious dessert.
I was actually pretty excited to make this recipe because I don’t often make desserts/treats. In fact we have them very rarely, mainly because it’s just Joe (my husband) and I here and if I was to make treats on a regular basis it would be just us two having to eat them, unless I went around knocking on the neighbours doors offering them food! The other reason why I don’t make these things very often is that they are usually time consuming, sometimes expensive when it comes to the ingredients and well there are people out there that do it MUCH better than me, like her, or her … or even her.
Another note before I get into the recipe… this is a TREAT. I’m capitalising that word because I want it to stand out… a treat is just that… a treat, something to be enjoyed on a special occasion and not as an everyday thing, otherwise it defies the purpose of the word. Also this particular dessert or treat, whatever you want to call it is quiet decadent and will easily serve 6-8 people so I suggest making it for a family treat or when you have guests over.
Pistachio & Fig Panna Cotta
Adapted from the Panna Cotta recipe in ‘Everyday Paleo Around the World Italian Cuisine’ by Sarah Fragoso.
Ingredients for the Pistachio Butter:
Note: You can make this butter the day before you make the Panna cotta to save on time. Just store in the fridge in an airtight glass container.
2 cups raw, shelled pistachios.
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon.
Pinch sea salt.
1 tsp melted coconut oil (optional).
Method for the Pistachio Butter:
Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and place the pistachios on top, in a single layer.
Toast in the oven for around 6-8 minutes or until you can smell them, but keep an eye on them so that they don’t burn.
Remove the warm pistachios from the oven and place into a food processor.
Process the pistachios for about 10 minutes then add in the cinnamon and sea salt. Continue to process until you have reached a creamy consistency. You will have to stop and scrape down the sides of the blender as you go along… just be patient! Also if you see that you’re getting no where fast then add in the melted coconut oil while your food processor is running and that should help.
Once ready, you can store this in an airtight container in the fridge (you will be using 1/2 a cup for the Panna cotta recipe). It will keep in the fridge for up to a week so try not to eat it all in one day ;).
Ingredients for the Pistachio & Fig Panna Cotta:
3 gelatine sheets/leaves.
2 cups/500ml full-fat canned coconut milk.
1/2 cup/200ml pistachio butter.
1/2 cup/200ml pure maple syrup or raw honey.
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract.
2-3 fresh figs.
Cold water.
Method for the Pistachio & Fig Panna Cotta:
Place a saucepan over medium heat and add in the coconut milk. Add in the pistachio butter and stir or whisk to combine. Cook until hot but not boiling.
While the milk is heating up in the saucepan, add your gelatine to a mixing bowl and pour over COLD water. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Once the coconut milk and pistachio butter mix is warmed up, remove from the heat and add in your maple syrup/raw honey and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine until the maple syrup/honey is melted.
Remove the gelatine sheets from the water and squeeze out any excess liquid. Place softened gelatine into the warm coconut milk mixture and whisk until fully dissolved.
Divide the mixture equally amongst your desired containers (I used small dessert glasses) and place in the fridge for 3 hours or until set.
Once set and ready to serve, add your fresh figs anyway you like on top. I just added 3 slices on top of each glass.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
*You can also use powdered gelatine. This one would be a great choice. Just follow the instructions on how to set the amount of liquid that is in the recipe.
Nazanin, or Naz, as her friends and family like to call her, is an Australian expat. She left Australia in 2011 with her husband Joe to move to Michigan, U.S.A where they lived for just under 2 years. They currently reside in England. Naz started her journey to paleo eating in 2011 and now runs her own paleo based food blog at cinnamoneats.com. She loves to create delicious paleo recipes to share with others. You can also connect with Naz via her Facebook Page, her Instagaram or her Twitter.
Links to social media sites:
Awesome! Thanks for the opportunity to guest post my recipe 🙂 Was fun doing this and we have to do it again 🙂
Most definitely!
That’s a beauty of a recipe and I bet it tastes heavenly. Nice work!
Thanks Alisa! 🙂
Any idea what the powdered equivalent to gelatin sheets are? I know they are common in the UK but have not seen them in the US
I’ve not heard of gelatin sheets before. I believe 2 Tbs is the equivalent of 14g, if that helps at all.
Good luck!!
your recipe calls for 3 gelatine sheets/leaves! But thank you for the weight, I can try weighing out the powder.