| Ricotta: A Love Story. Friends, where to begin? I spent much of my life thinking I disliked ricotta, thanks no doubt to my introduction to it: dining hall lasagna and stuffed shells, whose fillings left me considering it nothing more than a grainy, watery, flavorless paste. Ina Garten and her recipe for homemade ricotta showed me the light, revealing how creamy and fluffy the good stuff can be. And Missy Robbins showed me that whipping ricotta — blending it in a food processor until smooth — can transform it into an entirely different product altogether: a pipable purée, light and smooth, not unlike a creamy, savory frosting. In recent weeks, Laura Vitale, with her recipe for whipped ricotta with honey and pistachios, has made me more smitten with the cheese than I ever imagined. The recipe comes from her latest book, At My Italian Table, and when I first made it, I spooned it onto a platter, then set it on the table while I went out back to grill some bread. When I returned, I found my son sitting in front of it with a spoon. When the bread arrived, the whole family went to town, and before long, it was gone. In the recipe's intro, Laura writes: "If you don't feel like making dinner, whip up a batch of this instead and sit on your back porch with some mortadella, charred bread, a bowl of ruffled potato chips, and an ice-cold glass of wine or an Aperol spritz." Last night, I did nearly that, pairing the ricotta with Laura's herby roasted tomatoes (see below) and a few olive oil-and-sea salt-topped pizzas. We opened a few tins of sardines and called dinner done. It was a dream, and the whole ensemble made me excited for the warmer months ahead, for arranging vegetables on platters, assembling giant salads, turning the oven off and the grill on, opening tins of fish and jars of olives... and, well, with a platter of creamy cheese by our sides, the possibilities feel endless!
PS: Here are those herby roasted tomatoes also from At My Italian Table:
PPS: Last month I spent some time at the Food52 headquarters and had a blast. I made a breakfast pizza from Pizza Night with Amanda Hesser, who I've long admired and who is as funny and personable as I've always imagined. Watch the video here and get the recipe here.
Grilled Pizza: A TutorialIn Friday's pizza newsletter, I wrote about grilled pizza. Find the video tutorial for both charcoal and gas grilling here:
More Recipes to Make Right NowIf you've ever wanted to make a sourdough starter from scratch, now is the time! Warm temperatures dramatically increase your chances for success. Here's my tutorial: How to Build a Sourdough Starter from Scratch.
If you love a raw kale salad, you will love this Swiss Chard Salad with Lemon, Parmesan and Bread Crumbs Pasta with Cherry Tomato Sauce (A family favorite... making this tonight!) Raw Summer Squash Salad (For the first, tender squash of the season.) Jessie Sheehan's One-Bowl Lemon-Blueberry Loaf Vegetarian Tortilla Casserole Thank YouThank you to all who have ordered Pizza Night.
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