This Baked Ricotta Tart is the first recipe of the new year and the new decade. And I think it is such a delicious and versatile recipe to start 2020 on heinstirred. Great for brunch, lunch or dinner and the topping combinations are endless no matter what the season or occasion.
The inspiration for this Baked Ricotta Tart comes from Delicious Australia, and the ricotta base forms a blank canvass that you can dress up as you please. A combination of ricotta, mascarpone and parmesan, mixed with two eggs and baked. It is crustless and glutenfree, making the tart suitable for all tastes and preferences.
As it is summer in South Africa at the moment, I kept the topping seasonal and summery. A slather of pungent and herby basil pesto topped with fresh multi coloured tomatoes. Stock up on heirloom tomatoes at your next visit to the farmer’s market and adorn the ricotta tart base with them.
You can change the toppings depending on the season and the occasion. The pesto forms a good base of flavour but it does not have to be basil. A red pepper pesto or rocket pesto would work great as well. A beetroot pesto would look so good and probably tinge the top of the ricotta tart to a light pink colour.
Keep it vegetarian, there is enough protein in the base so I don’t think it needs meat in the topping. Roast the tomatoes as a variation, or roast beetroot or butternut. If you roast the veggies, you lose some texture so a roasted vegetable topping would need some texture in the form of roasted and topped nuts.
I hope you enjoy this recipe for Baked Ricotta Tart. If you’ve made the recipe share it with me by tagging @heinstirred on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #heinstirred
I love baking with ricotta, savoury or sweet. In fact, the most popular recipe on heinstirred is this Lemon Ricotta Cake posted right at the beginning of heinstirred about 6 years ago. The cake is utterly delicious and so worth baking. Enjoy!
Baked Ricotta Tart
Ingredients
- 750 g ricotta cheese
- 250 g mascarpone cheese
- 40 g parmesan cheese grated
- zest of 1 lemon
- sea salt flakes and ground black pepper to season
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 130 g basil pesto
- 350 g fresh heirloom tomatoes halved
- fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C
- Grease and line a 20cm round baking tin with baking paper
- Place the ricotta, mascarpone, parmesan and lemon zest in a bowl
- Mix until combined and season well
- Mix in the eggs until combined
- Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and smooth the top
- Bake for 1 hour, cover with foil and bake for another 15 minutes until firm and golden (it should have a slight wobble in the middle)
- Cool the tart completely in the tin
- Once cool, remove from the tin and place in a serving platter
- Spread the pesto on top of the tart
- Place the halved tomatoes on top and decorate with fresh basil leaves
- Serves 6
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Christine Capendale
Jan 20, 2020
Looks SO delicious!!!!
heinstirred
Jan 20, 2020
dankie Christine!
Judit
Jan 20, 2020
Looks amazing Hein!
heinstirred
Jan 20, 2020
Thank you Judit!
Katerina
Mar 4, 2020
I love baking with ricotta too – the texture of a ricotta cake is something amazing! And this savoury ricotta tart looks just amazing! I might use some of the tomatoes growing in our garden for this, they are going crazy at the moment! Thanks for much for sharing! PS: I adore your photography.
heinstirred
Mar 4, 2020
Thank you for the kind words Katerina. And using tomatoes from your own garden will make the tart extra delicious – hope you enjoy!