Chef's Recipes

10 William Street: House-made ricotta with baby vegetables

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for 10 William Street's house-made ricotta with baby vegetables.

By Giovanni Paradiso
  • 45 mins preparation
  • 1 hr 30 mins cooking plus setting, infusing, cooling, marinating
  • Serves 6
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10 William Street: House-made ricotta with baby vegetables
“This reminds us of going to the local caseficio (cheesemaker) every Saturday morning to pick up fresh warm ricotta. With the ‘fatty’ bio fiano from Ocone, it’s a real blast.” Giovanni Paradiso, 10 William Street

Ingredients

  • 1 zucchini, thinly sliced lengthways on a mandolin
  • 660 ml mild extra-virgin olive oil
  • 125 ml (½ cup) white wine vinegar
  • 1 eggplant, peeled in stripes, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • 6 baby beetroot, trimmed
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 bunches Dutch carrots, scrubbed and trimmed
  • 20 heirloom cherry tomatoes
  • ½ long red chilli, thinly sliced
  • 5 basil leaves, coarsely chopped
  • To serve: baby basil
Ricotta
  • 2 litres (8 cups) milk
  • 250 gm plain yoghurt
  • Juice of 1 large lemon

Method

Main
  • 1
    For ricotta, heat milk in a large saucepan to 90C on a thermometer. Whisk through yoghurt, lemon juice and 2 tsp sea salt. Remove from heat, set aside until curds form (15-20 minutes). Strain curds through a large sieve lined with muslin, then set aside until firm (2-3 hours).
  • 2
    Meanwhile, place beetroot and garlic in a deep baking dish, cover with water and set aside to infuse (2 hours). Preheat oven to 180C. Cover beetroot with foil and roast until tender (50 minutes-1 hour). Drain, then, when cool enough to handle, peel, halve, place in a small bowl and cover with 250ml oil.
  • 3
    Meanwhile, simmer vinegar and 1 litre water in a saucepan over medium heat, add eggplant and simmer until tender (5-10 minutes). Drain well, cool, then cut into quarters. Place in a bowl with oregano, cover with 125ml oil and set aside to marinate (1 hour).
  • 4
    Meanwhile, heat 60ml oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add tomato and cook until starting to soften (1-2 minutes). Remove from heat, transfer to a small bowl with chilli and basil, cover with 60ml olive oil, set aside to marinate (1 hour).
  • 5
    Meanwhile, preheat a char-grill pan over high heat, drizzle zucchini with 2 tbsp olive oil, season to taste and char-grill, turning once, until golden (1-2 minutes). Place in a bowl with remaining 60ml oil and set aside.
  • 6
    Blanch carrots until tender (2-3 minutes), refresh, drain and set aside.
  • 7
    To serve, remove vegetables from oil with a slotted spoon, season to taste, arrange on plates and top with ricotta and baby basil.

Notes

This recipe is from the September 2011 issue of .
Drink Suggestion: 2009 Ocone Oca Bianca Fiano, Campania, Italy.

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  • undefined: Giovanni Paradiso