Prep time:

Cooking time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Total time:

Serves: 6

15g Leaf Gelatine

400ml Coconut Milk

320ml Coconut Cream

4 Lemongrass Stalks

100g Caster Sugar

Grated Zest and Juice of 1 Lime

4tbsp Greek Yogurt

200ml Pineapple Juice

120g Caster Sugar

1 Red Chilli, deseeded, membrane removed and very finely diced

1/2 Pineapple, cut into 1

These recipes were taken from Spice Odyssey by Paul Merrett, published by Kyle Books at £19.99.

  1. Lay the gelatine leaves flat in a tray or on a plate and cover them with cold water. Leave to soak until they turn jelly-like in consistency. Set aside.
  2. Pour the coconut milk and coconut cream into a pan. Bash the lemongrass, a stalk at a time, using a rolling pin until it splinters into shards. Add to the pan and push below the surface of the liquid. Add the sugar and lime zest and juice and heat to a simmer. Cook for 3 minutes, remove from the heat and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
  3. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve, making sure you push through all the liquid. Discard the bits in the sieve. You now have a coconut-flavoured liquid, lightly sweetened and infused with lime and lemongrass.
  4. Squeeze the water from the gelatine and add to the hot liquid. Stir until the gelatine dissolves. Allow the mixture to cool a little and then gently whisk in the yogurt. Pour into 6 jam jars and chill in the fridge for 2 hours or until set.
  5. Remove the panna cotta from the fridge about an hour before serving to allow to soften very slightly. Also, the flavour is better if they are not eaten straight from the fridge.
  6. Meanwhile, make the sweet chilli pineapple. Pour the pineapple juice into a small pan and stir in the sugar. Heat to a simmer and cook until reduced by a third to form an intense pineapple syrup. Remove from the heat and stir in the chilli and pineapple. Chill in the fridge until required.
  7. Spoon the chilli pineapple over the coconut panna cotta, adding a little of the pineapple syrup as well.

  • words:

Peach & pistachio cake

This is an end of summer take on a Victoria sandwich, using peaches and mascarpone instead of jam and cream. Rose and lemon drizzle keeps the cake moist and rich, while pistachios add colour and a luxurious crunch.

Beetroot & feta salad

Beetroots are very easy to grow, and the great thing about home grown is that they can be picked when the roots are nice and small, which will make them sweeter when cooked (I roast them unpeeled in a low...

Grilled mackerel with roasted vegetables

It is the height of the mackerel season around our shores and this is such a tasty and very healthy fish, really easy to prepare and served on a simple dish of colourful Mediterranean vegetables.