Seasonal Recipe of the Week – Vanilla panna cotta and poached rhubarb, by Mark Jarvis

Ingredients

For the poached rhubarb 250g English rhubarb
150ml water
75g sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
Pinch of salt

For the vanilla panna cotta
300ml milk
250ml double cream
200g sugar
3 gelatine leaves
Pinch of salt
1 whole vanilla pod

Method
For the poached rhubarb, mix the sugar, salt, lemon juice and warm water until the sugar dissolves. Roughly dice the rhubarb then add the liquid and place together in a sealable bag. Cook at 70°C until tender. Chill in iced water until required.

For the panna cotta, soak the gelatine in cold water. Boil the milk and cream, and add the sugar and vanilla pod. Simmer for five minutes then remove the vanilla pod. Add the gelatine, mix and set in round moulds until firm.

To serve, turn the panna cotta out of the mould on to a plate. Place the rhubarb around it, with some of the cooking juices.

Mark Jarvis, head chef, Blueprint Café, London

RECOMMENDED WINE

Delicately textured yet decadently creamy, panna cotta needs a wine with a fruit character that will be sensitive to its subtle charms, while having the perky acidity to both cut through the richness as well as stave off the acid from the rhubarb and the lemon juice. Moscato d'Asti Nivole from top Piemontese producer Michele Chiarlo should work well - it is sprightly, blossom and apricot-scented, gently sparkling, and a low abv of around 5%, which ensures it won't overwhelm the panna cotta. A weightier Soave de Recioto Le Colombare from Pieropan would work too - lushly textured yet elegant, and a delicate baked peach character offset with a zippy freshness. If you're straying from Italy, a good German Riesling Spätlese our Auslese will cope admirably.

Zeren Wilson is a food writer and wine consultant, who runs restaurant review site www.bittenandwritten.com.