This is quick, easy and delicious but a good result is dependent on really fresh ricotta, very ripe cherries and excellent olive oil.
Ingredients
There is no cooking as such in this recipe, but even so there are specifics that need to be noted and it is really all about careful and timely shopping. This is what charms me about a dish like this where a few perfectly chosen ingredients in pristine condition can with great ease produce a memorable dish.
I am sure that the importance of ripe cherries goes without saying but perhaps the freshness of the ricotta is not so obvious to all. Ricotta, whether made from cows, sheep or buffalo milk, is a subtle delicate cheese both in taste and structure and it loses that freshness of taste and softness of texture quite quickly.
I always try to find out from my shopkeeper what day the cheese will be delivered and then I plan this dish based around that information.
You will need to stone and macerate the cherries 30 minutes in advance, but the final assembly of the dish should happen just before you take it to the table and is only a matter of minute. The chopping or tearing of the scattering of mint is also a last minute task as they oxidize when the leaves are broken for any length of time and as a result they develop a bitter and tired flavour with none of the perfume that we associate with that lovely herb.
Serves 4
- 24 ripe cherries
- 320g ricotta
- 1-2 tablespoon caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil such as Fontodi or Capezzana
- 4 tablespoons cream
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 16 small mint leaves, torn or chopped just before serving
Method
- Remove the stones from the cherries and smash slightly. You can do this using a cherry stoner or else place the cherries on a chopping board and press them with the flat blade of a knife to squash them and loosen the stone.
- You can then pick out the stones by hand. Place in a small bowl and sweeten them to taste with some of the caster sugar.
- Allow to sit and macerate for at least 30 minutes to draw some of the juice and for the sugar to dissolve.
- Divide the cheese with a spoon between 4 plates. Try and make a loosely domed shape with a hollow in the centre.
- Sweeten lightly with a sprinkling of caster sugar. Spoon the cherries and juices into the hollow in the cheese. Drizzle on the olive oil and cream.
- Finally, zest the lemon over each serving, sprinkle on the mint and serve immediately.
