Directions
Thanksgiving could be the right time to go off the beaten track with a gourmet dessert.
So we asked Piergiorgio Parini, a great Italian chef, for help and he was so kind to give us a delicious, wild recipe full of green flavors: here is to make the “Sempreverde”, we could translate it in “Evergreen”.
It’s an incredible semifreddo made with basil, chocolate and Chartreuse, a dessert with which you will impress your family and guest, but we have to warn you: it’s not a simple recipe.
But don’t worry, if you follow literally the recipe, you may prepare the ultimate Thanksgiving dessert.
Enough talking: we have a lot of work to do!
Ingredients for making the Evergreen Dessert, basil and Chartreuse semifreddo
4-8 servings
- 30 grams of egg white
- 25 grams of sugar
- 100 grams of melted white chocolate
- 165 grams of whipped cream
- 3 grams of gelatin and 30 g. Chartreuse (dissolve them together)
- 30 basil leaves, blanched and finely chopped
How to make the Evergreen Dessert, basil and Chartreuse semifreddo
Pour Chartreuse in a pan, cook for few seconds, wait 1 minute, then put in the gelatin and let it dissolve.
Whip the cream.
Now whip white eggs with the sugar at 60 °, then let them cool.
Melt white chocolate and stir 1/3 of whipped cream, then the gelatin and warm Chartreuse and stir.
Combine this mixture with the meringue, add the remaining whipped cream and finally chopped basil leaves.
Pour into a rectangular mold and keep it in the freezer for 4-5 hours.
For lovage powder
- 3 stalks of lovage
Preparation
Freeze the whole stalks, once they get “hard” finely grate them and put the powder thus obtained in the freezer again.
For making the tarragon sorbet
- 300 grams of water
- a little bit of locust bean gum
- 50 grams of sugar
- 5 grams of glucose
- 30 grams of tarragon
Preparation
Pour all the ingredients except tarragon in a saucepan, make a syrup, cooking it on low heat, allow to cool, then add tarragon and freeze immediately.
To decorate the final dessert
- mint, lemon balm, fennel, basil, dill, chervil, eucalyptus, marjoram, thyme, savory
Preparation
Cut a rectangle of our Evergreen semifreddo, lay it down it on a plate, top with abundant lovage powder, plant all the herbs to fully cover the dessert and finally serve it with a tarragon sorbet quenelle.
