Starting from Easter, the doors open to picnics and outdoor outings, weather permitting, of course! Already on Easter Monday, the desire to dine outdoors, perhaps on a beautiful meadow, at the sea, or around the shores of a lake, the leftovers of the Easter lunch or prepare other delicacies to add to the picnic basket, becomes a must of the new spring season! And this is where savory pies, focaccias, plumcakes and various rustic pies come to our aid! And if you’re gathering with a lot of people, muffins are a perfect solution! The sweet versions abound, but why not try them in a savory version? I propose for these occasions the combination of zucchini, ricotta, and sun-dried tomatoes, ideal as an appetizer to pair with cured meats and cheeses, but they would ultimately be a tasty idea for an informal buffet! Moreover, the choice to use ricotta in the batter and to beat the egg yolks instead of adding the whole eggs makes them particularly fluffy and they will remain soft and moist even if made in advance. Try them because they will literally be a hit!
CURIOSITY: Do you know where the name muffin comes from? Among the many hypotheses, it seems that the most credited is that it derives from the French mouflet (soft), or from the German muffen (small cakes), and also, its origin is not so noble, as they were made by bakers to feed the servants, using day-old bread mixed with leftover biscuits and potatoes. It was all then fried and not baked as it is today. When the nobility discovered this secret recipe, it became the favorite snack of tea time. Modern history has greatly modified this recipe, up to today characterized by two mixtures: one based on dry ingredients and the other with wet ingredients. Once the two mixtures are combined, the batter for the little cakes we all know is created!
Time for outdoor outings? Try organizing a picnic in the open air enjoying some savory preparation like those below:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 12 muffins
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Easter Monday, Spring, Summer
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 any more!
- 1 1/2 cups type 1 flour
- 1 cup ricotta
- 2 zucchini (small or 1 medium/large (about 8 oz))
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup grated Grana Padano cheese
- 1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 packet instant yeast for savory preparations
- 2 pinches salt
Tools
- 3 Bowls
- Electric beaters
- 1 Hand whisk
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Grater
- 1 Tea towel
- 1 Knife
- 1 Ice cream scoop
- 1 Muffin pan
- 12 Cupcake liners
Steps
Start by washing the zucchini very well under running water and, with the help of a knife, trim them.
Grate them using a large-hole grater and let rest for 15′.
After this time, place the zucchini inside a clean tea towel, preferably not washed with softeners or similar fragrance products and squeeze out all their water.
Meanwhile, roughly chop the previously drained sun-dried tomatoes with a knife.
In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients, namely the flour with the sifted yeast, the grated Parmesan and a pinch of salt.
In a second bowl, place the liquid ingredients, starting by separating the egg whites from the yolks*, and whisk the latter with a hand whisk until a smooth and homogeneous mixture is obtained.
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks with the help of an electric mixer and set aside.
Add to the beaten yolks the previously drained ricotta.
Finally, add the milk slowly while continuing to work with the whisk.
Now pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of liquids, and mix.
Complete by gradually incorporating the egg whites.
Mix with slow movements from bottom to top without deflating the mixture using a spatula.
Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and grated zucchini and mix well.
Place muffin liners in a muffin pan** or, if not available, lightly grease and flour them. Fill them up to 3/4 with the mixture using an ice cream scoop. Bake in a preheated static oven, at 350°F for about 25′-30‘, or until they are well puffed and the surface is golden brown. The toothpick test will confirm when ready, as it should come out dry.
Remove from the oven and let them cool completely at room temperature before unmolding and serving.
And there you go…the savory muffins with ricotta, zucchini, and sun-dried tomatoes are ready to be served!
They will be perfect to enrich your Easter table…
Or to pair with a fresh salad or cured meats at a picnic.
Bon Appétit from La Cucina di FeFè!
Storage
👉The savory muffins with ricotta, zucchini, and sun-dried tomatoes can be stored in the fridge in containers suitable for refrigeration for up to 2-3 days. You can simply reheat them for a few minutes in the microwave or hot oven to make them crispy again like freshly baked, but even at room temperature, they are very tasty!
Tips, notes, variations, and suggestions
🟣* In this recipe, the choice to separate the yolks from the egg whites is absolutely optional, but advisable if you want an even softer and fluffier final texture.
🟣**The choice of cupcake liners: paper liners do not need to be greased or oiled because otherwise, they would become too moist and break with the batter. Even though paper liners should not be greased before putting the batter in, muffins may still stick. This can happen if the muffins are not baked immediately but are left for some time before the oven reaches the correct temperature. In this case, the paper becomes too wet and that’s why the batter sticks. The trick is to bring the oven to temperature first, and then transfer the batter to the paper liners and bake immediately! Don’t forget that even so, muffins may stick to the paper, but in such a case it could depend on the poor quality of the latter. A good and more practical alternative could be silicone molds, because, if bought of good quality, it’s practically impossible for muffins to stick, plus they are eco-friendly as they are reusable. Just wash them in the dishwasher and they’ll be as good as new. However, the aesthetic given by the colorful paper liners, which make everything more scenic, especially if offered at a buffet, will be lost. A dilemma you will decide to unravel!
🟣If you do not have specific vegetarian needs, you can replace the sun-dried tomatoes with cubes of pancetta or good salami, also cut into cubes.
🟣If you don’t like zucchini, by following the same procedure you can add another type of vegetable you prefer like raw chopped broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, etc.; also for the ricotta, it can be replaced with the same amount of fresh cheeses like robiola, goat cheese, quark cheese, or even simple Greek yogurt.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Can I use another type of flour?
Certainly! You can replace type 1 flour with regular refined type 00 flour, but if you want to give it an even more rustic flavor, try using whole wheat flour or type 2 flour, adding in these last two cases a pinch more milk.
