This easy baked ricotta with aleppo chilli flakes and mint is delicious served warm as an elegant appetiser or cold as part of a cheeseboard. Serve it with lots of toasted bread, marinated capsicum strips and olives.
Whether it’s part of a cheeseboard, a first course, or an indulgent feast for one, you can’t really go wrong with baked ricotta.
Warm, it’s melty and creamy and fondue-like, perfect for slathering on toasted baguette slices. At room temperature, or even cold, it becomes more like a dip, perfect for crackers and crudites, and can be topped with marinated capsicum slices, olives, and whatever other antipasto selections you favour.
And best of all, it’s really easy to make, with the oven doing most of the work. You mix together a few ingredients, spoon it all into a small oven-safe dish, and bake! Remove from the oven when bubbling and golden, drizzle with a little olive oil and serve, warm or at room temperature with the marinated capsicum, toasted baguette slices, and olives if you so like.
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Ingredients for Baked Ricotta with Aleppo Chilli and Mint
Here’s everything you’ll need to make the baked ricotta:
Ricotta. Some things you can substitute and some things you just can’t; and the type of ricotta you use for a baked ricotta is one of the latter. To get the dreamy creamy consistency of a warm cheese dip, you need to start with a creamy yet firm base. Ricotta from a container is too loose and will result in a very wet bake and honestly, won’t be scoopable with your toasted baguette slices. Low fat or anything less than whole milk ricotta will result in a drier, less flavourful baked cheesy dip that’s just fine, but not great. It doesn’t matter whether you get your ricotta from the supermarket or a deli, just make sure to get whole mill, full fat stuff.
Pecorino. Ricotta is a mild cheese and very much a blank canvas in a lot of ways, and benefits from a little salty cheese mixed in. I had pecorino on hand, which is saltier than parmesan, but you can easy substitute it for parmesan or asiago or grana padano.
Garlic. You can omit the garlic if you don’t have any, or don’t want to use it, but it does add a little zing and deepens the overall flavour of the final dish.
Aleppo chilli flakes. Aleppo chilli is much milder than regular chilli flakes, and I promise it’s not too hot. Think of it like a non-smoky chipotle powder; the aleppo chilli leaves behind a bright, mild hum of heat, with just a tiny lip tingle. If you like the spice, add an extra ½ teaspoon. If you only have regular chilli flakes on hand, halve the quantity and only use ½ teaspoon.
That’s all you need to make this baked ricotta, just seven ingredients. What you serve it with is up to you, but I recommend freshly toasted baguette slices at a minimum.
An extra sprinkle of fresh herbs (more mint or even basil) and lemon zest are an effortless way to add a little extra zing and brightness. But baked ricotta pairs really well with antipasto and crudité platters – ingredients that are salty or fresh and can cut through the richness of the oozy melty cheese.
Looking for more starters/appetizers? Try these:
Baked Ricotta with Aleppo Chilli and Mint
Equipment
Ingredients
- 300 g whole-milk ricotta, premium if you can get it
- 3 tablespoons pecorino, grated and divided
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon aleppo chilli flakes
- ¼ cup mint, roughly chopped
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, lemon olive oil if you have it
- Baguette slices, to serve
- Marinated capsicum, to serve
- Olives, to serve
- Basil leaves, to serve, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the ricotta a little to break it up. Add 2 tablespoons of pecorino, garlic, aleppo chilli flakes, mint and lemon zest and whisk until completely combined.300 g whole-milk ricotta, 3 tablespoons pecorino, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon aleppo chilli flakes, ¼ cup mint, Zest of 1 lemon
- Spoon the ricotta mixture into a small, 2-cup, oven-safe baking dish, or two to three 1-cup ramekins. Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of pecorino on the top and drizzle over the olive oil. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until it’s bubbling a little on the edges and the ricotta is golden brown on top.1 tablespoon olive oil
- Remove from the oven, drizzle a touch of extra oil on top if you wish, and serve while warm or at room temperature, with toasted baguette slices, marinated capsicums and olives.Baguette slices, Marinated capsicum, Basil leaves, Olives
