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I had some delicious baked ricotta at Christmas recently and it reminded me of how much I love eating it. I used to make it all the time, usually with a chilli garlic flavour on top and serve it as part of starter and antipasto platters. I don’t know why but for some reason I hadn’t made or thought about it in years.
I got a strong craving for it and decided to make it again. Except while buying the ingredients I forgot to grab the chillies for my usual recipe. I didn’t realise until I was back home again and I couldn’t go back to the shops for at least a few days so I decided to improvise with what I already had on hand.
Ricotta is a delicious cheese even eaten as is without baking or adding flavours and I never want to make anything I add to it too complicated. Simple is always best with this cheese! I wanted something similar to my old recipe in ingredients and decided oregano would be a great sub for the chilli because it is a completely different flavour but also pairs well with the other ingredients in my old recipe. And this Oregano and Garlic Baked Ricotta was born!
I used a whole 1kg ricotta which comes in a strainer basket wrapped tightly. But you can always use a smaller piece and just adjust the amounts you put on top. I often used to buy a single large wedge of ricotta and use that as I nearly always served it with other things. But this Oregano and Garlic Baked Ricotta I intended to be eaten on its own as is for a light meal, snack or as appetisers.
Be careful when turning your ricotta out of the basket or lifting a piece of the Oregano and Garlic Baked Ricotta onto the tray because it is a fairly soft cheese which can sometimes break easily. Make sure you also let the ricotta strain slightly before cooking it to reduce the amount of water that can leach out. Your Oregano and Garlic Baked Ricotta may also drop slightly when you add it onto your tray or slightly lose shape when you bake it. Don’t worry, it will ‘reset’ itself once it has cooled.
You can eat this Oregano and Garlic Baked Ricotta at room temperature, or my personal preference is to chill it in the fridge. I find this really enhances the flavours of this Oregano and Garlic Baked Ricotta both on top and of the cheese itself. I eat it as a light snack most of the time or in addition to a meal if I don’t quite feel full, so I like to cut it into bite size squares for portion control. This is also great for appetisers but I also sometimes cut into wedges to make for an actual meal.
Oregano and Garlic Baked Ricotta
Ingredients
- 1 kg whole ricotta try and get a shallow piece
- 2 cubes garlic paste
- 1 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Open your packet of ricotta and let it sit while the oven heats so some of the liquid can drain out. Carefully turn out your ricotta onto your baking tray. You might want to lie the tray on top of the ricotta basket and flip it to turn it out.
- Sprinkle or spread your garlic over the ricotta. Focus on the top centre but spread it onto the sides also. Drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with oregano leaves to evenly cover. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bake at 200C for 15-20 minutes until starting to go golden. Remove and allow to cool on the tray. There may be some excess liquid you might want to carefully drain off.
Notes
Nutrition
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