We’re still in the Spring egg glut situation, so for a little while yet, expect Tuesday Night Vego Challenge recipes to feature eggs. And though we don’t have cows or goats, people who do will know that milk is also a Spring glut produce. Both are good protein foods, and eggs are also a good source of lots of vitamins including the hard to get B12, and they are rich in choline, which is important for memory. And low fat ricotta is a great way to get enough calcium without too much saturated fat.
And baked ricotta is so good! Something in the process transforms it. This recipe makes it into the half hour of the rules by the skin of its teeth and only if your oven heats up fairly nicely and evenly. But most of the time is just waiting for it to bake.
The Recipe:
Makes 6 Texas muffin sized baked ricottas. Leftovers are good cold for lunch.
Turn your oven on to heat up to medium.
Steam a packed cup of herbs and leafy greens very briefly, just to wilt them. I used a mixture of flat leaf parsley, spring onion, dill, thyme, and spinach.
In a food processor or blender, blend together
- 500 grams low fat ricotta
- 3 medium sized eggs
- 50 grams grated parmesan
- a heaped teaspoon of grated lemon rind
- salt and pepper
When they are well blended, add the wilted greens and pulse just to chop them in. You want them finely chopped, (rather than turning the whole mix pale green).
Oil a 6 cup Texan muffin tin well and put a little circle of greaseproof paper in the bottom of each cup. (This is important – they tend to stick otherwise). Spoon the ricotta mix in and smooth out the top.
Bake for around 25 minutes till they are puffed up and softly set. They will be cooked before the tops brown, so be careful not to burn them. Loosen around each ricotta with a knife then tip them out and peel off the paper.
Steamed or grilled asparagus goes really really well with the creamy lemony-ness of the baked ricotta.
Oh yum. That sounds like dinner tonight. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Linda, I made your leek tartlets for dinner last night and shared the recipe on my blog after lots of people asked about them. I made them ahead of time and just warmed them up in the oven before dinner and I used regular muffin tins instead of the bigger texas ones. These were the perfect size for my littlies and they loved have their own little individual pies – went down a treat. These look just as good, I’ll put them on next weeks menu I think!
Just wanted to add how much I’ve been enjoying your blog! Thanks for sharing your recipes and ideas.
We must all be thinking along the same lines – I’ve been baking ricotta too, as has fellow blogger Tania! Your version looks superb, Linda, thanks!