There’s a wonderful little grocer just around the corner from where we live and seeing as we’ve been living in the middle of nowhere for so long with limited access to wonderful fresh food, you can just imagine the heaven I’m in.

I’ll often go there rather than the local IGA to grab bread just so I can see what’s on special and if there’s a ‘seconds’ box. They usually have a few boxes of fruit and veg that at the end of the day don’t look so good and so they pile them all together and sell them for $3 a box.

Bargain!

From them, I’ve made 3 jars of tomato ketchup, a few jars of strawberry jam (the older not-so-nice looking strawberries are just perfect!) and there are a few odd looking things in them that I like to experiment with.

The other day while browsing I picked up a box with this wonderful fruit in it, already wanting to create something vibrant and delightful.

Red Dragonfruit has this intense pink flesh that’s spotted with little black seeds when cut open. I just love the subtle sweetness it has when eaten and I knew I wanted to make something that showcased both of these wonderful elements.

Red Dragon Fruit Panna Cotta.

I don’t have a set-in-stone recipe for Panna Cotta but have made a few in the past and more so follow the instructions on the back of the gelatine packet, but for you guys, I {thankfully} wrote it down!

Now, if you don’t have dragonfruit don’t stress! You can still make the base recipe (without the dragonfruit) and add some vanilla bean paste, matcha powder {possibly my next Panna Cotta…}, cacao powder, mango flesh or even turmeric powder {but increase the sweetness for this one!} for a vibrant yellow dessert! But if you do happen to find a Red Dragon Fruit (be sure to check the store as there are also White Dragon Fruit’s with white flesh) for this dish then, perfect!

To make it you’ll need:

• 220g Coconut Milk
• Flesh of 1/2 a Red Dragon Fruit
• 30-50g Maple Syrup {depending on how sweet you like it}
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 4 Sheets of Gelatine

Method:

1. Into your Mixing Bowl weigh in your coconut milk then add the dragon fruit flesh, maple syrup and vanilla. Mix together for 4 Min/70 C/Speed 4
2. While that’s mixing, soak your gelatine leaves in a bowl of water to soften.
3. When the mixture has finished set your time for 1Min/Speed 4 and add the softened gelatine leaves through the mixing bowl lid, allowing them to be completely incorporated into the coconut mixture.
4. Once done, strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the dragon fruit seeds and pour the pink mixture into 4 small cups, placing into the fridge to set for at least 5 hours.

I served mine with some vanilla {lactose free} cream, chopped pecans and micro-herbs but if you don’t want to fuss you can top yours with a dollop of thick cream {maybe a shave of chocolate or three!} and enjoy!