This summer, as often happens on social media, the recipe for baked Greek feta with cherry tomatoes went viral, a dish that many have replicated given its versatility to transform from a simple vegetarian main course into a pasta condiment or bread dip! I was tempted several times to try it myself but then the idea of baking all that salty cheese, even though I often use it in my recipes, made me desist from my good intentions. And when weeks ago I came across the variant proposed by a colleague I’ve been following for a long time, it was love at first sight! She replaced the feta with some fresh ricotta, much lighter and more digestible, and further enriched the dish by also adding some pre-cooked chickpeas that I think go wonderfully! A healthy and tasty dish in line with my nutritional style that I could only embrace with great enthusiasm. My contribution to the recipe is simply to add even more flavor, by adding garlic in the skin, spices and aromatic herbs, but the essence doesn’t change! I therefore thank Emanuela for this tempting variant, super easy and quick, which I hope you will try too!
[Recipe from the blog Quiet Kitchen by Emanuela Pelusi]
If you love these quick and tasty dishes for enjoying light yet nutritious meals or brunches, also try these ideas based on their seasonality:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 2 people
- Cooking methods: Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer, and Fall
Ingredients
⚠ THIS RECIPE CONTAINS ONE OR MORE AFFILIATE LINKS. The products I recommend are the same ones I use in my recipes; purchasing them through my blog helps support me and my work, while it won’t cost you anything extra!
- 2 ricotta (each 120 grams (4.23 oz))
- 150 g yellow cherry tomatoes
- 150 g red cherry tomatoes
- 200 g cooked chickpeas
- to taste aromatic herbs (thyme, basil, and parsley)
- to taste chives (dried)
- to taste spicy paprika
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 pinches salt
- to taste mixed peppercorns
Tools
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Strainer
- Paper towels
- 1 Baking dish
- 1 Parchment paper
Steps
Wash the cherry tomatoes thoroughly under running water, pat them dry with paper towels, and with a knife cut them in half lengthwise.
With the help of a strainer, rinse the chickpeas well under running water to reduce sodium content and remove any residues and impurities.
Pat them dry with plenty of paper towels, rubbing repeatedly to remove the skins more easily.
In a baking dish lined with parchment paper, place the two ricotta in the center, arrange the cherry tomatoes and chickpeas around them.
Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Flavor with spicy paprika or another spice of your choice, and the mix of aromatic herbs.
Drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil over the entire surface.
Finish by adding the garlic cloves in the skin, but this step is absolutely optional, and put in a preheated oven at 356°F (180°C) for about 25′-30’**.
Turn off, mash the garlic with a fork if you, like me, love a more intense flavor, removing the skin which will come off immediately, and serve cold or warm with slightly toasted bread crostini and more basil. Alternatively, as pasta sauce, mash all the ingredients until you get a delicious and rustic sauce.
And voilà… the baked ricotta with chickpeas and aromatic tomatoes are ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appétit from The Kitchen of FeFè!
Storage
👉Baked ricotta with chickpeas and aromatic tomatoes can be stored in the fridge in a suitable refrigeration container, preferably glass, for 2-3 days.
Tips, notes, variations, and suggestions
🟣* The choice of ricotta: I would suggest first purchasing fresh ricotta from the deli instead of from the supermarket refrigerator, not only because it would affect the final quality of the dish, but also for an aesthetic reason if you plan to serve it to guests, as unmolding it from their basket in the second case proves to be more problematic; on the other hand, deli ricotta is more practical, as it doesn’t require the tedious and necessary step of passing it through a sieve to remove all the whey, risking the final result. Weigh the pros and cons of both types and make your choice.
🟣** As an alternative to the oven, as suggested by Emanuela, the ricotta can also be cooked in an air fryer at 338°F (170°C) for 10′-15′.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Is it possible to prepare this dish with 100% vegetable ricotta?
Yes, in this case, there are several very valid product proposals that you can buy at stores that sell these vegan specialties – mainly made with cashews, almonds, or other nuts – or prepare homemade vegetable ricotta.
