Inspired by Mozza

It seems that I always preface our dinners with some kind of disclaimer (I overcooked this, I undercooked that, there’s not enough salt, there’s too much salt, I burned the garlic, it’s not right…), and Ben’s usual response is “Can I enjoyed it anyway?”

Mozzarella di bufala, pesto, slow roasted cherry tomatoes, crostone with homemade ricotta.

In this case ricotta is a misnomer and I am using the word only because that’s what everybody calls this kind of homemade cheese. Real ricotta is the byproduct of cheese making, where you use the whey left over from making mozzarella. This ricotta is made with milk, heavy whipping cream and — dare I say it? — lemon juice. If you can’t find good ricotta, this is a good alternative.

If I seem fussy about ricotta it’s because I know what the real thing tastes and feels like; the texture is different and so is the flavor. My favorite ricotta happens to be made with sheep milk, and that adds to the difference. Not that there were any leftovers, mind you.

Pesto and olive tapenade on the side.

So much pesto… I think we’ll have pasta al pesto tonight.

The photos are bad, but the food was good.

Pesto, tapenade, homemade ricotta and slow roasted tomatoes were all inspired by recipes from The Mozza Cookbook and for the most part I followed the recipes exactly (I replaced burrata with mozzarella di bufala and I was missing an ingredient in the olive tapenade). The styling leaves much to be desired. What can I say… by the time everything was ready to be assembled I was too hungry to bother with style.