Peach and Tomato Salad with Whipped Basil Ricotta
Every ingredient in this salad pairs with every other ingredient, in any pair or any combination. Peach and ricotta, check. Tomato and basil, check. Peach and basil, check. Tomato and ricotta and balsamic,check. Peach, tomato, ricotta, basil and balsamic, all together, CHECK!
Ingredients
- 1 lb heirloom slicing tomatoes
- 1 lb fresh, ripe peaches
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- cream, milk or olive oil see note
- 15 leaves basil about 12 grams
- good balsamic vinegar
- salt
- white pepper black pepper can substitute
Instructions
- Stack the basil leaves and slice thinly into chiffonade.
- Whip together the ricotta, optional liquid, and half of the basil. This can be done with an immersion blender, or a food processor, or by hand mashing and then whipping with a fork.
- Cut the tomato into wedges, removing the core as you slice.
- Optionally peel the peaches, and cut the peaches into wedges of similar size as the tomatoes.
- To plate, evenly divide the whipped ricotta between six salad plates, Using the back of the spoon, spread the whipped ricotta into a circular bed for the rest of the salad. Next lie alternating wedges of tomato and peach around the bed of ricotta. Season lightly with salt and white pepper. Spread the remaining basil on top of the plates. Finally drizzle some good balsamic vinegar over the salads.
Notes
Depending on how firm the ricotta is, you may need some extra liquid to soften the mixture as it whips. Cream, milk (preferably whole) or olive oil are all options for this liquid. The goal is for the whipped ricotta to be easily spreadable on a plate, without being at all runny.
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