Once I began bottling Donatella Fruttato Extra Virgin Olive Oil, I was obsessed with finding exciting new ways to use it beyond sautees and salad dressings. It has such fruity undertones, and it's called Fruttato because it's made with olives picked just before peak ripeness, so I asked my pastry chef at the time, Nancy Olsen, to create a dessert that really showcased the olive oil's flavor. The result was this Olive Oil Panna Cotta--savory enough to ease your sugar guilt but still delightfully sweet. It can be made with any quality olive oil, but the more fruity the better. 

INGREDIENTS

Whole milk - 2 cups
Heavy cream - 1 ½ cups
Sugar - ½ cup
Zest of ¼ of a lemon
Extra virgin olive oil - ½ cup plus a little extra for finishing the dessert
Unflavored gelatin powder - 2 ½ teaspoons
Cold water - ¼ cup
Blood oranges - 6
Fennel -1
Sugar - 2 Tablespoons
Water - 1 Tablespoon
Nicoise olives - 6
Sugar - 1 teaspoon
Maldon sea salt - to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine the milk, cream, sugar, and lemon zest in a medium pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. While you are waiting, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and stir to dissolve. After the liquids boil remove the pot from the heat and pour the olive oil into the hot liquid. Add the completely dissolved gelatin to the hot liquids. Stir to combine thoroughly.

Place the pot into a larger container filled with ice water. Stir occasionally to cool the mixture down. Once the mixture has reached room temperature use an electric hand mixer to emulsify the olive oil. Divide the mixture into individual serving containers and refrigerate. Allow the panna cotta to set overnight.

To make candied olives: place pitted chopped olives in a saucepan with 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon blood orange juice. Bring to a boil. Place the olives on a baking sheet and place in a 200 degree oven until crispy. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

To make candied fennel: slice the white part only of a fennel into small strips. Blanch the strips in hot water and remove. Place the fennel strips into a saucepan with 2 Tablespoons sugar and 1 Tablespoon water. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer until it coats the fennel and the fennel strips become translucent.

To make a blood orange sauce for serving: juice 4 blood oranges and strain to remove any pulp. Place the juice in a saucepan and place over medium high heat. Cook until the juice is reduced by half. Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately pour the reduction into a separate heat-proof container.

Segment the remaining 2 blood oranges and cut each segment into smaller pieces.

To serve: dip the panna cotta containers into a bowl of hot water for several seconds to loosen and un-mold onto a plate. Drizzle some of the blood orange reduction around the panna cotta and garnish with the blood orange segments, candied olives and candied fennel. Drizzle the entire dish with a little bit of the olive oil.