Ricotta 2 Ways: an Easy Mother's Day Brunch

For some, Mother's Day is easy peasy. If you have a mom like mine, for example, all that a brilliant Mother's Day entails is taking your mother to visit baby goats, making she has a steady supply of coffee on hand, and maybe a margarita later in the day. But if you don't have a steady stream of baby goats nearby (see here for where to cuddle baby animals this spring) or perhaps your mother isn't as into farm animals as mine, your day likely involves brunch.

One of my favorite recipes for an easy mother's day brunch involves ricotta, two-ways.

And flowers. Don't forget the flowers.

An Easy Mother's Day Brunch.

Though there tends to be less booze and political discussions at hand, for some brunch feels as stressful as bringing together a group relatives at one Thanksgiving table. But it doesn't have to be if you streamline the cooking. One way for your mother's day brunch to be easy as pie without having to bake pie is by relying on cheese for an easy mother's day brunch.

And nope, you don't have to make the ricotta. Some of my favorite ricottas are made by Bellwether, Narragansett CreameryDiStefano, and Calabro, and are perfect for ricotta 2-ways.

Ricotta Two Ways

This brunch brings together the bounty of spring. Asparagus. Apricots. Strawberries. Perfect watermelon radishes. The vegetables will be accompanied by baked ricotta. This is the savory part. The fruit will go with fresh ricotta, drizzled with honey. This is the sweet part. Serve all at once with bread. Shopping list follows. 

Preparing the savory and the sweet. 

1.Savory: Pick up some asparagus spears and watermelon radiishes or other colorful radishes at your local farmer's market.

• Roast the asparagus. Warm your oven to 375 degrees. Cut off the tough ends of the asparagus spears, then lay over a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake until the vegetable is al dente- or cooked, yet still firm to the touch. Ten to fifteen minutes.

• Slice your radishes paper-thin. Use a mandolin if available, otherwise use a sharp knife. Layer on a pretty plate, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and chopped parsley.

2. Sweet: Pick one or two spring fruits your mom likes. My mom is hooked on apricots and strawberries, therefore I get some of both.

• Grill or roast the apricots. Cut apricots in half and remove the pits. Either heat up your grill, and grill the apricots until marked, or roast your apricots in the ovens right after cooking your asparagus. If roasting, roast face-down until the fruit cut-side begins to lightly brown or turn golden. After baked, drizzle the fruit with half the honey.

• Slice the strawberries.

Ricotta 2 Ways

Savory: Turn your oven up to 400 degrees. Place two thirds of your ricotta on a pretty baking dish. It will shrink while cooking. Bake for ten to fifteen until the top of the cheese turns golden. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Sweet: Plate the second half of the ricotta in a decorative dish, leaving room on the side for the fruit. Drizzle the ricotta with honey.

Serving 

To serve, place your baked ricotta in its pretty dish on the table along with the roasted asparagus, radishes, and sliced bread. I like my savory with olive bread, lightly warmed (toss in the oven for five or so minutes).

Cozy your roasted apricots and strawberries next to your honeyed ricotta.

Don't forget the coffee, mimosas, rosé, sparkling wine, and or whiskey if that's the type of mama you have. Enjoy, and happy mother's day!

Shopping List

(serves 4)

• 1 bunch asparagus

• radishes

• parsley

• apricots and/or strawberries (2 apricots per person, 3 strawberries per person)

• 1/4 cup honey

• salt and pepper

• 5 cups ricotta

• bread