Recipe: Ricotta Dip Two Ways with Ace Bakery Crostini

Just in time for the holidays! Here lies a super easy way to take the same ingredients (Ace Bakery baguette & ricotta) and enjoy them in two totally different and delectable ways!

For this recipe I used one white baguette and one 475g container of ricotta cheese. I divided the container into two bowls to create each dip, hence the oddly precise measurements below. This recipe could be easily double, reduced and played around with.

While the bread is getting toasty, you have the time to whip through most dips’ grunt work. Ricotta is a super malleable, light and fresh-tasting cheese that has no problem slipping into different tastes. The caprese tastes very bright from all the lemon zest, and the pancetta and onion dip is earthier, even more savoury.

Ingredients

Baguette Crostini

1 white Ace Bakery baguette

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Caramelized Onion + Crispy Pancetta Ricotta Dip

237.5 grams of ricotta

½ a large red onion, sliced

1 large slice of pancetta

1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

1 sprig of rosemary, chopped fine

Glug(s) of olive

Caprese Ricotta Dip

237.5 Grams of ricotta

3-5 small heirloom tomatoes, with range of colour

Zest of one lemon

5 large leafs of basil, chiffonade

Juice from a ¼ of a lemon

Glug of olive oil

Method

For Baguette

1. Preheat oven to 375 and prepare a sheet pan.
2. Slice baguette on a slant, so the crostini have angles to them and lay flat on sheet pan.
3. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper on each baguette slice. Lightly toss or turn them over, and then back again to encourage the excess oil to both sides. Lay flat again on sheet pan.
4. If you’ve chosen to make the prosciutto ricotta dip, then can crisp up the proscuitto at the same time by laying the one prosciutto slice in it’s own corner or the same sheet pan.
5. Toast at 375 for seven minutes and then broil for three minutes, closely watching to make sure things do not burn. Every oven is different!

For Caramelized Onion + Crispy Proscuitto Ricotta

1. Sauté onions on a medium heat in a few glugs of olive oil, enough so that the strands are coated.
2. After five minutes of stirring, add in the rosemary.
3. Continue to stir onions until they take on a golden colour and become caramelized. A little char is ok!
4. Remove onion from heat and set aside in a bowl.
5. Toss onions with 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar.
6. See baguette method for instructions on cooking the prosciutto slice.
7. Once prosciutto is brittle, break up the pieces by hand or knife, saving one large piece for a garnish.
8. Place ricotta is a bowl and mix in the prosciutto and caramelized onions to the ricotta with wooden spoon, careful not to over mix.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste at the end.
10. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil if desired, and use the saved proscuitto piece as a garnish on top.

For Caprese

1. Cut heirloom tomatoes in half and remove seeds and insides with a small metal spoon, then chop into a small dice.
2. Place ricotta in a small bowl and add in basil, tomato, and lemon zest.
3. Then add lemon juice, taking care to not add too much as that would make the dish too watery.
4. Finish with a glug of olive oil, and add salt and pepper to taste at the end.
5. Garnish with a few little slices of the fresh tomatoes.