FOOD / 02
so i’m on what one might call a ricotta kick (if “one” were more judgmental they might call it an addiction). regardless, this stuff is good, great actually cause you can jazz it up with all kinds of flavors: sweet, savory, salty, all of the above.
oh, and DO NOT try and use fat free ricotta, it is no good. i’m a big believer that when cutting calories, cheese should not be part of the sacrifice. also, let me warn you, this “sandwich” can be a bit messy to eat so you might want to put a lid on it. i just couldn’t bare to for the photo.
and one last thing before i give you the recipe. you will find that my recipes involve little cooking or skill – people think i’m skilled but it’s a trick. it’s all about mixing the right ingredients together so if you are up for mixing, let’s do this!
what you’ll need:
– 1 loaf of ciabatta
– 1 cup of olive oil (don’t kill me if you have some left over, cause measurements are not my strong suit)
– 2 garlic cloves, crushed
– 1 15 oz tub of ricotta cheese
– handful of herbs, chopped – i used parsley, basil and chives, but mint could be really good, too. oh, and keep one or two basil leaves aside to put on top of the sandwich, cause it looks real pretty that way. **side note: i’m extremely fancy and have a veggie garden in my backyard, hence the luxury of grabbing “a handful of herbs.” if you don’t have this luxury just cut it down to one herb (i’d say basil)
– the zest of one lemon (then used the skinned lemon to squeeze into a glass of bubbly water)
– fresh ground pepper
– good salt, i highly recommend maldon salt – – you won’t be sorry.
– some fresh veggies of your choosing, stuff like zucchini, tomatoes, onions, etc.
first you make your ricotta spread:
in a medium bowl mix ricotta, the zest of one lemon, chopped herbs, a couple pinches of maldon salt and a few twists of fresh ground pepper. easy.
then,
– mix the olive oil and crushed garlic in a small bowl
– take the loaf of ciabatta and cut it lengthwise, like they do at subway.
– generously coat both sides of the bread with the oil and garlic mixture
– slice zucchini lengthwise and also coat it with the oil and garlic mixture
next,
– place the bread and zucchini face down onto a heated grill pan or bbq for a few minutes. the bread can stay face down, but after a couple minutes i would recommend flipping the zucchini.
– remove bread and zucchini from grill and spread ricotta mixture on one half of the ciabatta loaf.
– add the zucchini, sliced tomatoes (and any other veggies), as well as the extra basil leaves.
– sprinkle with salt and pepper and eat (duh!)
{ column + photos by jen gotch, design by bri }
Oh man I’m on a ricotta kick too. Lemon ricotta cookies and spinach pizza with white sauce. But I always have some leftover, so a sandwich sounds just the ticket 🙂
I wouldn’t dare! Looks scrumptious. xo Lola
i recently made a lasagna and ended up eating so much of the ricotta layer by itself bc it was so delicious! this sandwich looks amazing, especially since i love grilled zucchini! i also agree that fat-free should never apply to cheese!
Oh man this looks so good!! and I’m down for little to no cooking and just mixing it up!!
i am, um, addicted to ricotta, too. it’s just so good. and you’re right, fat free is a no go.
This is torturing me. I am now starving and none of the snacks I packed in my lunch will do. I can’t wait to make this over the weekend!
Ummmm I heart your blog…and I am also a firm believer in not using low fat cheese!
Augh, super delicious! I have been through a ricotta phase before and may soon be entering into another one 🙂
Kate
http://www.thrillofthechaise.com
Sounds incredible! I love ricotta!
The pictures and design are incredible 🙂 And the sandwich looks yummy, too!
Also on a ricotta kick. It’s really good on homemade pesto pizza.
*printing page & making copies for everyone in my contacts*
This looks delicious! You two should team up to do a cookbook! It’d be the prettiest one ever!
So glad you finally caved to Bri’s requests to post some weekly food, Jen! The pics are gorgeous, too.
Yes. Yum. Heading to the store to buy all ingredients after work. 🙂 Loving the new blog look Bri!
This is my kind of cooking! Just kind of strategically putting together things into something better than the sum of it’s parts. And I couldn’t agree more on Low-fat Cheese. No!
Caroline
nomtastical.
This looks delicious. I love your recipe… “like they do at Subway!” Adorable. xo.
This just became my dinner for Friday night. Yummers!
This sounds great! I recently got some Himalayan pink salt and organic peppercorns from Sustainable Sourcing https://secure.sustainablesourcing.com and I’ll have to try them out in this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
This looks positively divine! I am certainly craving it right now. Do you read Smitten Kitchen? Deb just did a post on homemade ricotta. It seems pretty simple! It would make your recipe even better! Check it out:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/06/rich-homemade-ricotta/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+smittenkitchen+%28smitten+kitchen%29
I made this for me and two buds on Friday night and it was SO GOOD. And easy, and quick. And cheesy and messy. And awesome. I think I’m making it again this weekend, only with the bread sliced into strips for appetizer-sized snacks. Thanks!