Fiery Twice Baked Ricotta, Sea Salt… and a ridiculous amount of herbs.

Fiery Twice Baked Ricotta with Sea Salt… and a ridiculous amount of herbs. 

I was recently reminded of a much loved favourite. I used to bake it for all manner of parties with such success it started receiving invitations itself, and disappointed looks if it didn’t appear. Oh you brought cake instead… I’m sure it’ll be fine… 

It has been part of the repertoire for so long I can’t remember where it originated from. What I do know for sure is that it has certainly evolved into the mouth-watering punch in the mouth flavour-bomb  it is today.

Last week an old friend asked me for the recipe and the on-line discussion thread developed with calls of glee from others at the same party (5 years ago!) at the memory of this now legendary delight.

For the life of me I can’t remember why I stopped making this extraordinarily simple but delightful dish.

Fiery Twice Baked Ricotta with Sea Salt… and a ridiculous amount of herbs. 

The Fridge

1kg of fresh ricotta – from the deli not from a tub – tub cheese is way too soft for success
Sea salt crystals
Dried chili flakes to taste (trust me, err on the side of too much as the cheese will mellow the heat)
A few generous slugs of extra virgin olive oil
Great big bunches of oregano, sage, rosemary and thyme*

Preheat the oven to 200c. Line a loaf tin and press the ricotta into the tin. Bake for 20 minutes until firm and the edges have the slightest hint of gold.

Allow the cheese to cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes, in which time it will become firmer.

Meanwhile in a shallow baking tray make a bed of half of the herbs and dress with a little olive oil and set aside.

Once cool enough to handle, cut the loaf in half and invert onto the green bed of waiting herbs.

Separate the halves slightly and drizzle with olive oil. Liberally sprinkle the crystalline flakes of salt over the two slabs. Don’t be shy, ricotta can handle the salt.

Follow with the chilli flakes and the rest of the herbs. Douse with olive oil and return to the oven to bake for a further 30-40 minutes.

After 15 minutes baste the cheese with the sizzling herb infused oil. Repeat every 10 minutes until the blanket of herbs are soaked and scorched and the cheese is a deep burnished gold.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving – just ever so slightly warm.

Sit back and let the praise wash over you between greedy mouthfuls.

* All available at Scarborough Fair (see what I did there)