I fell in love with ricotta when I lived in Mexico, where it’s called requesón. Apart from its light, fresh taste and delicate sweetness, what makes this cheese so appealing is its versatility. It works as a delicious topping for roast pumpkin or beetroot, say, but it’s just as at home in puddings. The salted version, meanwhile, is a marvel shaved on salads or drizzled with honey. Most of all, however, I love ricotta when it’s baked – it becomes a meal in itself. Here, I use it to add substance to a zingy citrus salad sprinkled with spiced nuts.
Ricotta toasts with chicory, blood orange and maple walnuts
The spiced nuts take very little time to make and I think are incredibly good, but for an even quicker fix, just use toasted walnuts instead.
Prep 10 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 4
500g ricotta
2 blood oranges
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 small handful fresh thyme leaves
8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
Salt and black pepper
2 tsp white-wine vinegar
5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ tsp caster sugar
4 heads chicory (a mixture of red and white, ideally, for appearance’s sake)
1 small shallot, peeled and finely chopped
4 slices sourdough bread
For the spiced nuts
400g walnuts
1 ½ tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 ½ tbsp olive oil
2 tsp rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
½ tsp cayenne pepper
Heat the oven to 170C/335F/gas 3½. Drain the ricotta in a sieve, then put in a bowl. Gently scrub the oranges clean, then finely grate the zest of one into the ricotta. Crush one garlic clove and beat into the ricotta with the thyme, three tablespoons of oil and generous seasoning; whisk to get rid of any lumps. Transfer the cheese to a small oven dish and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden.
Meanwhile, mix all the spiced nut ingredients and spread out on a large oven tray, so they bake evenly. Roast for 12-15 minutes alongside the ricotta, stirring once or twice, until golden. They will dry and crisp up as they cool.
For the dressing, squeeze the juice of the zested orange into a cup and whisk in the vinegar, remaining oil and sugar. Separate the chicory leaves, then wash, dry and put in a salad bowl with a big handful of the roughly chopped spiced nuts. Zest the second orange, then peel and cut the fruit into neat segments. Add to the salad bowl with the shallot, season and toss with the vinaigrette.
Toast the bread, rub it on one side with the remaining garlic clove and drizzle with a slug of oil. Scoop the ricotta on to the toasts, top with the zest and serve the salad alongside.
And for the rest of the week…
Blood orange season is short, so buy a stash. Juice some for breakfast and turn the skins into candied peel, to add deliciously bittersweet notes to sweet souffles, pastries and winter salads. The spiced nut recipe makes lots extra, but that’s because they’re borderline addictive: scatter on all sorts of salads, serve with drinks, or enjoy them as a tasty, healthy snack.
• Food styling: Amy Stephenson
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