Baked Ricotta with Roast Tomatoes & Basil Oil

I think vegetarians often miss out when it comes to celebrational meals because there isn’t the whole large piece of meat to share. This baked ricotta solves that problem by being equally beautiful and sharable.

If you’re tempted to skip the step of lining your tin, I’d highly recommend thinking again. I once spent a horrible 15 minutes wrestling my ricotta out of a tin and ended up with a sad mess instead of a goregeous loaf.

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Baked Ricotta with Roast Tomatoes & Basil Oil

Servings 8 hungry people

Ingredients

for the ricotta loaf

• 3 eggs
• 750 g full fat ricotta
• 300 g grated parmesan cheese

for the tomatoes

• 1 kg cherry tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons sea salt flakes or 1 teaspoon fine salt

for the basil oil

• 2 large bunches basil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

For the ricotta loaf

• Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Line a large loaf tin with baking paper and rub the base and sides with olive oil.
• Place ricotta in a large bowl and add eggs one at a time, mixing with a spoon until well combined.
• Mix in parmesan. Scoop the cheese mixture into the prepared loaf tin.
• Place loaf tin in a larger baking tray and pour water into the larger tray so that it comes about half way up the sides of the loaf tin.
• Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the ricotta is firm and golden brown. Remove from the water bath and allow to cool to room temp in the tin.

For the tomatoes

• Increase oven temperature to 200C (400F).
• Halve tomatoes length-wise. Place tomato halves cut side up on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Scatter over the salt.
• Bake tomatoes for 30-45 minutes or until starting to brown and shrivel a little.

For the basil oil

• Blitz basil leaves in a food processor along with the garlic & lemon juice until well chopped.
• Gradually drizzle in oil and season with a generous pinch of salt.

To serve

• Run a knife around the edge of the ricotta loaf tin to loosen and then invert onto a serving platter. Drizzle with basil oil and top with tomatoes.

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Quantities for Different Serving Sizes

You can easily double or halve the tomatoes or the oil. If you need more of the ricotta, I’d be inclined to bake 2 separate loaves. If you wanted to decrease the ricotta, use a smaller loaf pan or consider baking in individual ramekins – the baking time will probably be about half of a large loaf.

Prepare Ahead

All three components can easily be made a few days in advance and stored in the fridge. I think it’s best to serve at room temperature rather than chilled, especially the ricotta. So remove from the fridge at least an hour before serving.

Variations

carnivores – if you need to serve someone who won’t be happy unless there’s some meat, a side platter of proscuitto or jamon would work really well with the cheese.

egg free – I haven’t tried this but if you ditched the eggs and replaced with an extra 150g (or 4oz) of ricotta I think it will still be lovely, although you may need to be more careful as the loaf may crumble more easily.

dairy-free / vegan – I’m afraid you guys will have to try the mushrooms!

Problem Solving Guide

too dry – if the egg overcooks, the texture will be grainy and dry. Low fat ricotta may also cause a dry texture. Next time make sure you use full fat ricotta and cook until only just golden and the loaf feels firm to the touch. For now, be thankful for basil oil and tomatoes.

too oily– Tthe basil oil can be a bit too much for some people. Consider serving on the side if you’re worried about it.

loaf falls apart – sounds like it was undercooked. If you have time, get it back in the tin and cook for longer. If not, consider serving on individual plates as scrambled ricotta. Ricotta in tubs, rather than from the deli, tends to be wetter and softer and more likely to fall apart.

Serving Suggestions

Just add a salad and maybe some crusty bread.

Leftover Potential

Great. Will keep in the fridge for at least a week or more.

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