No disrespect to pie—I love it—but you can serve more than one dessert on Independence Day. I nominate this luscious Greek yogurt panna cotta. With blueberry sauce or a strawberry-rhubarb sauce, it’s appropriately dressed for the day. Gluten-avoiding guests will be grateful, and any leftovers will make a dreamy breakfast. It took a few tests to get the panna cotta to that perfect quivery state, but I think I nailed it.
Of course you can buy Greek yogurt for this recipe but I prefer to make my own by draining regular yogurt. I think you get a more pleasing texture that way. Just line a sieve with a triple thickness of dampened cheesecloth, set it over a bowl to catch the whey and dump in 1 quart of plain whole-milk yogurt. Cover with a plate (you’re not pressing the yogurt, just protecting it) and refrigerate until the yogurt has lost half of its volume. Depending on the yogurt you started with, this might take 3 to 4 hours.
Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta with Two Berry Sauces
Photo: Eva Kolenko
I like to serve this panna cotta parfait style, with the fruit puree on the bottom. Diners plunge their spoon down through the creamy layer and bring up a smidgen of sauce with each spoonful.
Each sauce recipe makes enough for 6 portions, so if you make both sauces you will have extra. Both sauces keep well so you can enjoy them with yogurt over the next few days.
The peculiar measurement of powdered gelatin yields just the right consistency: not too stiff, not too soft. You can make the sauces a day ahead, but I find the panna cotta’s texture most luscious the day it is made. From Yogurt: Sweet and Savory Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner by Janet Fletcher (Ten Speed Press).
Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce
1/4 pound rhubarb, in ½-inch slices
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 cup of sliced strawberries (about 6 ounces), plus a few more for garnish
Blueberry Maple Sauce
2 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons maple syrup
Panna Cotta
1 cup whole milk
1-inch piece of vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cups drained plain whole-milk yogurt or Greek whole-milk yogurt
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch kosher or sea salt
1-1/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
To make the strawberry-rhubarb sauce: Put the rhubarb, sugar, and orange juice in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer gently until the rhubarb has softened completely, about 10 minutes. Watch carefully as the mixture wants to boil up and over. Stir in the strawberries and cook uncovered, stirring often, until they soften slightly, about 2 minutes. Puree the mixture in a food processor or blender. Refrigerate, covered, until chilled.
To make the blueberry sauce: Set aside 2/3 cup blueberries. Put the remaining blueberries in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons maple syrup. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the berries collapse completely and release their dark purple juice, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the reserved blueberries. The mixture will be thin. Transfer to a small bowl, cover, and chill.
To make the panna cotta: Put the milk in a small saucepan. With the tip of a paring knife, scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the milk, then add the pod to the milk as well. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep for 30 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean pod with a fork.
In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, and salt.
Sprinkle the gelatin over the warm milk and let soften for 5 minutes. Return the saucepan to medium heat and bring the milk to a simmer, whisking constantly until the gelatin completely dissolves. Cool 5 minutes, then whisk the milk mixture into the yogurt.
Spoon a generous 2 tablespoons sauce in the bottom of each of six 6- to 8-ounce glasses. Divide the yogurt mixture evenly among the glasses. (I put the yogurt mixture in a measuring cup with a pour spout so I can distribute it easily.) Cover the glasses with plastic film and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours.
Serves 6