Last fall was the official start of Rillette on Toast, a super club I started with friends Jess and Kate. As of writing this, there have be two official dinners with No. 3 coming this February. We started it as a collaborative project where we could all gather for meals, experiment with food, entertaining and basically make it whatever we wanted it to be.
For No. 2, Ry and I hosted it at our place. I went for an Italian vibe, think Sicilian meets Philly Italian (also accurate in describing me). One course included a twist on a classic Sicilian dish, pasta con le sarde, and another was a porchetta meets Philly roast pork open faced sammie kinda thing. All in all the night was super fun, lots to eat and drink and great people to hang with who are down to try anything you put in front of them.
Besides lots of antipasto, caviar, chips and crudités going on, the first dish of the night was a whipped ricotta toast with a sun-dried tomato purée. As you may know, from some of my past posts, this summer I was in Italy and as per my usual decided it best to bring home an annoying amount of jarred and canned goods. This would include the delish sun-dried tomatoes that were used here.
This was a super simple starter that consisted of some grilled bread rubbed with garlic, a generous smear of sun-dried tomato purée, whipped ricotta and topped with some fried basil. Like most things, if you get good ingredients to start with here, you really can’t go wrong, it’s gonna be delish.
Be sure to go check us out @rilletteontoast and let us know if you’re interested to join in for one of our dinners!
Jump to Recipe
think Sicilian meets Philly Italian (also accurate in describing me). One course included a twist on a classic Sicilian dish, pasta con le sarde, and another was a porchetta meets Philly roast pork open faced sammie kinda thing.
Ricotta Toast with Sun-dried Tomato
Ingredients
- 4 slices italian bread approximately 1” thick slices
- 1 c sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
- 8 oz whole-milk ricotta
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 bunch basil leaves
- olive oil
- salt
Instructions
- Strain oil from the tomatoes, set aside, and add tomatoes to your food processor. Purée till mixture is as smooth as possible. Check to see if it needs any salt and add in a touch of that reserved oil if needed to get a smooth purée, it will all depend on your tomatoes.
- Next, in a clean food processor, add in your ricotta, a pinch of salt and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Process until super smooth and slightly aerated. You’ll know it’s done when the ricotta takes on a completely different texture and goes from grainy and dense to smooth, silky and light. Check for seasoning. Next, add your ricotta to a pastry bag, if you plan of piping it out, or just set aside till you’re ready to assemble your toasts.
- When you’re ready to eat, get your bread grilled and rub it generously with a clove of garlic while it’s still hot. Spread on your tomato purée and top with a good amount of that whipped ricotta. I also added a few fried basil leaves here, fried for about 10 seconds in some hot olive oil until crisp, but fresh basil is just as good. Finish with a bit of flakey salt and that’s it.
One thought on Whipped Ricotta Toast
As usual you’re making me hungry for this appetizer. I can just taste all the individual ingredients. Your table looks so welcoming with the beautiful peonies, candles, and place settings. Keep on cooking. ????