42 Comments
User's avatar
Matt's avatar

I assume this would work but have you tried using agrumato instead of olive oil?

Marsha Ingles's avatar

Bonjour David. Decades ago, the USPS had a 'book rate' that allowed for the inexpensive shipping of books and other printed materials. It looks like they replaced it with 'media mail' which doesn't apply to international shipping, which is a pity. I can remember shipping a large box of books home from my study abroad in France many decades ago at a very economical rate. That doesn't seem possible now. Unfortunately, shipping anything to or from the US seems to be an adventure these days. The panna cotta looks delicious!

Donna Bak's avatar

David, I’m curious…what are the other 2 cookbooks you brought back, in addition to More Than Sweet?

David Lebovitz's avatar

Company and Care & Feeding (technically not a cookbook but about a food writer)😅

Big John Caudill's avatar

This recipe, among many you bring to us, sounds absolutely delicious! A thought if I may…many of us are lactose intolerant and the heavy cream and milk will wreak havoc on my intestinal system, if you know what I mean? I can’t imagine many worthy replacements, but might you have a suggestion, I’m all ears! Thank you.

David Lebovitz's avatar

I'm pretty sure you could make this with dairy-free alternatives, such as coconut milk, soy cream, oat milk, or a combination of them, that keeps the fat level consistent with their dairy counterparts. I do know there is Lactaid milk you could also use - some panna cottas are made with only milk, whole milk, so that might be a good option too!

Karen Schaffer's avatar

This sounds fabulous, can't wait to make it. I wish I could send you some makrut lime leaves from my tree!

I order my olive oil from Stonehouse (California). Great oil and great bulk options: https://www.stonehouseoliveoil.com/collections/olive-oils

Jz's avatar

Oh, I do indeed have The Perfect Scoop--so much friskier and more fun than other books about making ices. So Californian! (I'm a San Francisco girl, born and bred.)

The ratios would need to be adjusted in making your panna cotta an ice cream. But the bones are there! Thanks.

Jz's avatar

This looks like it would also make a terrific base for ice cream. Would you alter the amount of OO?

David Lebovitz's avatar

I don't know if I'd freeze it with all that gelatin in it - although gelatin is a stabilizer so maybe that would work? but I might reduce it although can't say how much or anything about quantities without trying it. There is an olive oil ice cream recipe in my book, The Perfect Scoop - if you have a copy, you might try that.

Raj brandston's avatar

mexican

Jordan Battani's avatar

Here I was puzzling over “me in can” limes. Kind of wish you hadn’t corrected it!

Raj brandston's avatar

Love thai flavors first time hearing about Makrut limes

love me in can limes

ae_rubin's avatar

Coincidentally we just took “More Than Sweet” out of the library to try. Any tips if one only has “gold” gelatin leaves? And on halving the recipe - especially re the leaves? (Extremely limited fridge space…)

David Lebovitz's avatar

I don't have a lot of experience using different types of sheet gelatins and making conversions, but there's a pretty good guide here: https://blog.modernistpantry.com/advice/reference-sheets/the-confusion-over-conversion/

Hope that helps!

ae_rubin's avatar

Thanks!

Ellen Todd's avatar

Also 0 how flavorful an olive oil do you suggest? We typically have a large bottle of California Olive Ranch and a smaller bottle of Cretan Verde (that we buy at a Greek grocery when we can - it's about an hour away from us.) The Cretan oil is definitely more flavorful so we save it for dishes where we want the oil to be flavor forward.

David Lebovitz's avatar

You can go as bold or timid as you want. I prefer a bolder flavor olive oil here to stand up to the berry/plum flavors, so I'd recommend a full-flavored one.

Karen Tripson's avatar

Thanks. I’ve got company coming and plums.

Jordan Battani's avatar

My kitchen runs on olive oil too and now that I’m back in California and trying to buy hyper-locally I use Sciabicca which is made just down the road from me. Worth seeking out (but ignore the infused flavored stuff - unless that’s your thing)

I cant wait to try this recipe - certainly during what’s left of the stone fruit season here, although I love panna cotta infused with lemon zest during the bleak midwinter…My “go to” panna cotta recipe has heretofore been one from Georgeanne Brennan - designed to be served family style (and thus sidestep the dreaded unmolding) it was part of a love letter she wrote to the Meyer lemon back when the SF Chronicle had a weekly food section that was worth getting up early for….

David Lebovitz's avatar

I think it's fun to unmold them (it always works!) but understand any reluctance... Meyer lemon zest would be wonderful infused in there. I have about a dozen small, still very green, Meyer lemons on my tree..so hope they ripen!

Ellen Todd's avatar

Thank you for the musings about infusing this with lemon verbena. I used three little plants in one of our deck planters and they are now quite large. I've been wondering how to use it other than in a lemon verbena gimlet.

Fran McCullough's avatar

Make lemon verbena ice cream - ravishing!

David Lebovitz's avatar

Yes, it's one of my favorite flavors and I just made a batch last week : )

https://www.davidlebovitz.com/lemon-verbena-ice-cream/

Michael Sierchio's avatar

I think panna cotta should be floppy – or at least jiggly! My greatest disappointment with restaurant panna cotta is that it almost invariably includes too much gelatin – it's probably insurance for the dish to make it to the table intact.

Terri Smith's avatar

I want mine nice and set up, not floppy. I have the Fahine gelatin and it’s gold, not platinum. I used 4 sheets.

David Lebovitz's avatar

Custards (to me, too) should be as loose as possible, but in restaurant situations or where you need to be sure they'll unmold, I guess people add additional gelatin. Sheet gelatin comes in different strengths and the gelatin leaves are different sizes and weights, so that also may be a culprit in non-jiggly panna cotta (?)

Michael Sierchio's avatar

Thin metal (disposable, sadly) molds work really well in a resto – panna cotta doesn't so much stick to the surface as form a good air barrier. Poke a tiny hole in the bottom with a fluting knife and they pop right out.

David Auerbach's avatar

My understanding is that sheet gelatin is "normed" so that they are sheet equivalent to each other; i.e. 3 sheets of gold=3 sheets of platinum, etc. (achieved by having the gold sheets weigh proportionately more.)

doors's avatar

Italian, married 50 years to a Greek so olive oil is major in our home. We always purchased ours from a huge Greek store in Astoria which has since gone out of business but somewhere my husband managed to find a tin of what we used to buy- it's called Spitiko from Greece EVOO - VERY green and intense - BUT watching Ina in one of her videos she mentioned. using California olive oil so I also buy California Olive Ranch - 100% California - thing to be careful of are those blends with are cheaper and in my opinion not great. Will try the pannacota this weekend As always, many thanks. Ordering your cookbook today too.

David Lebovitz's avatar

I used to use California Olive Ranch olive oil back when I lived in California as it was a good, easy to find option. It's funny when I put together an order for the 5 liter /~5qt tins some people think that's a lot. I think we go through a liter a month : )

doors's avatar

Just ordered your Chocolate book - found you years ago because my daughter Alexi makes your ice creams every Christmas Eve - you are the best! Yes, we go through tons of olive oil - I grew up not using a lot of butter - I even cook my eggs in it1

David Lebovitz's avatar

Thanks for ordering it! And enjoy the chocolate book : )