Katers' Red Bell Pepper Soup with Goat's Cheese Sorbet and Chilli Chocolate Panna Cotta

Ingredients

Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
1 pomegranate
Red vein sorrel, to garnish

Goat's Cheese Sorbet:

670 ml water
200 g caster sugar
140 ml liquid glucose
500 g soft goat's cheese

Note: For the sorbet in this dish to set, you will need to make it the day before.

Chilli Chocolate Panna Cotta:

275 g milk chocolate
115 ml water
1 1/2 gold gelatine leaves
1 tsp chilli paste

Red Pepper Soup:

5 brown onions, diced
10 cloves garlic, crushed
3 red chillies
200 ml red wine vinegar
200 g sugar
8 large red capsicums, roasted, peeled, deseeded and chopped
1 L vegetable stock
2 cups Greek yoghurt

Method

Goat's Cheese Sorbet:

Gently heat the water to 40°C and add the glucose and sugar. Bring the temperature to 85°C, then remove from the heat. Crumble the goat’s cheese into a blender, cover with the sugar mixture and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and leave in the fridge overnight, then place into an ice-cream maker and churn according to instructions. If you don’t have an ice-cream maker, place the sorbet in the freezer and stir well every hour until thick and creamy.

Chilli Chocolate Panna Cotta:

Bloom the gelatine leaves in water until soft. Bring the water to a simmer in a small saucepan, add the chocolate and chilli paste and stir gently to combine, taking care to not aerate the mixture. Add the gelatine leaves and mix until dissolved. Allow the mix to cool slightly, then pour into oiled moulds and place in the fridge for 1-2 hours, or until set.

Red Pepper Soup:

Place a saucepan over a medium heat with some vegetable oil and cook the onions until translucent. Add the vinegar and sugar and reduce by a third. Add the capsicums and stock, then simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly then purée in a blender or food processor until smooth. Whisk in the yoghurt and season to taste.

To Serve:

Remove the panna cotta from the moulds and place into a small soup bowl. Top with a quenelle of goat’s cheese sorbet and garnish with pomegranate seeds and red-vein sorrel. Serve alongside a small jug of warm red pepper soup, to be poured over the panna cotta and sorbet.

Credits: Katers Restaurant - Peppers Manor House as published in The Southern Highlands Cookbook

Photo Credits: Katers Restaurant