Roasted Garlic Baked Ricotta
Made with lots of nutty Parmesan, fresh lemon, rosemary and thyme all mixed together then baked until bubbling and golden. Equally at home whether served as a game day snack or as part of your next holiday menu, it's deceptively simple to make yet tastes luxuriously rich and flavourful!
Equipment
- Cutting board
- Small baking dish or skillet
Ingredients
Roasted Garlic
- 1 whole head of garlic
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher or fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Baked Ricotta
- 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil plus more to finish
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- Freshly grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- Chili flakes and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 crusty baguette thinly sliced, crostini or warm pita bread for serving
Instructions
- To roast the garlic, first slice the garlic head in half. Drizzle the exposed cloves with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and roast on a baking sheet at 400ºF (204ºC) for 40 minutes. Let cool, remove cloves from their skins and set aside.
- Preheat oven to oven to 425ºF (220ºC).
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together all ingredients until well combined. (Take care not to over mix, you want to see nice bits of roasted garlic throughout!) Transfer to a ½ litre oven-safe baking dish or a small skillet and top with more Parmesan cheese and crushed pepper.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes until bubbling and golden. Next, move baking dish to top rack and turn oven to broil then broil for 2-3 minutes until browned, keeping a close eye so as not to over cook.
- Remove from oven and place on a wire cooling rack to cool. Before serving, drizzle a little more olive oil across the top and garnish with extra thyme leaves and chili flakes. Surround with baguette or crostini and serve immediately while still warm.
Notes
Roasted garlic: If using jarred roasted garlic, 5 teaspoons is roughly equivalent to a standard 10-clove head of garlic. Garlic may also be prepared by frying the peeled cloves with a little olive oil in a shallow sauce pan until softened and slightly caramelized. To save roasted garlic for later, let the garlic cool then discard the skins. Leftover garlic cloves may be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to a month.
Make ahead: The ricotta mixture can be assembled the day before. Simply refrigerate overnight – minus the olive oil – then bring to room temperature and stir in olive oil just before baking.
Leftovers: Baked ricotta is at its best fresh from the oven. To reheat, stir in a little more olive oil and microwave at 20-second intervals until warmed through. Tip: Leftover baked ricotta is delicious spread on toast, in sandwiches or as a dip for chopped veggies!