I am in such a mood for Italian food lately, and my husband couldn’t be happier. It’s his favorite kind of food, especially pizza. And this next recipe isn’t totally unlike pizza. It’s got toasted bread, cheese, basil, and toppings. This Whipped Ricotta Toast with Balsamic Cherries recipe sounds like a tasty snack that will be easy to make–perfect for a lazy afternoon at home. I’m all a tizzy about using fresh cherries, which I love, and a little excited about the ricotta cheese, which I am learning to love. Seriously, I used to hate the stuff. I don’t know what happened, but my tastebuds have changed their minds. And I’m not mad about it.
Whipped ricotta toast with deep red, fresh cherries tossed in balsamic vinegar and scattered with some chopped basil leaves. So pretty, so easy and so delicious!
The Ingredients
I did have to shop for several of the ingredients for this recipe, but nothing was difficult to find. A quick trip through the dairy aisle, over to the produce section, then a skip through the bakery for some fresh ciabatta bread was all it took. I had the pantry staples like olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper on hand.
The Process
Making these cherry toasts was reasonably quick and simple, though I did have to try a few methods to pit the cherries. I read online you could use a drinking straw to push the pit out, but mine wasn’t stiff enough to push out the pit. Another technique I read about used a chopstick to push the pit out, but the pointy end kept missing the pit and destroying the cherry.
I ended up cutting the cherries in half but rolling them on my cutting board with the sharp edge of a paring knife. Then I grasped each half, twisted, and exposed the pit. A gentle pry with a fingernail removed the pit and kept the halves pretty much intact. Or you could hit up Amazon and buy a cherry pitter if you’re that committed. I’m not, but I was impressed with the variety available–cherry pitting must be serious business for some folks!
Pitting the cherries was the most time-consuming part, and things went very quickly once that was done. It was just a matter of a little zesting, chopping, and mixing while the bread toasted in the grill pan.
Assembling the toasts was just as easy as it looked, and the results were just as beautiful as the author’s pictures. I was thrilled with the results!
