 | | | Roasted Tomato-Mushroom Ricotta Bake Photo Susie Iventosch | | | | | | This dish is simple and oh so delicious! It makes a wonderful side dish or a light meal, but can also be used as a topping for chicken or steak. I love it best served with grilled rustic Italian bread and if you want to use it as an appetizer, just serve it along with some toasted baguette slices. When I came up with this recipe, we had just been given a big basket of garden fresh tomatoes from a friend, but I have since made it with cherry tomatoes from our local grocer as well. Some ricotta bakes call for an egg to be beaten in with the ricotta cheese, but I really like the consistency of using just the ricotta all by itself. This dish would be fun to serve if you happen to be hosting a super bowl party this year! I will have one more recipe for Super Bowl parties in the next issue too.
Roasted Mushroom Ricotta Bake
(Serves 4 as a side dish)
16-ounce container of ricotta cheese
4 medium tomatoes, sliced, or 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small package (10 oz.) sliced cremini mushrooms
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 425 F. Toss mushrooms in a little olive oil and lay out on a greased or sprayed baking sheet. Roast for approximately 10-12 minutes, until beginning to brown. Remove from oven.
Meanwhile, spread half the ricotta in the bottom of a greased casserole dish. Layer half the tomatoes and mushrooms on top. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and oregano. Spread remaining ricotta over the top of the veggies, and layer the remaining tomatoes and mushrooms over the top. Again, drizzle with olive oil and season with oregano, salt and pepper.
Bake at 425 F for about 20-25 minutes, or until ricotta is bubbly and beginning to brown around the edges.
Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes to set up. Serve with meat, baguette slices or as a side dish all by itself. |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA