Foodandthefabulous

Ricotta Double Mushroom Phyllo Pastry Tartlets

I was asked to be a part of an episode of the Afrikaans lifestyle programme Pasella along with two blogger friends, Fritz of Real Men Can Cook and Ilse of The Food Fox and to showcase a less common cheese. My first choice was Taleggio cheese as used in these Mushroom and Taleggio Cheese tarts - alas, I have not spotted Taleggio for the last two months.

Say Cheese!

Watch out for the show to be aired on 29 February 2012

With Ilse (L) and Fritz (R) after the day long shoot

I adapted that recipe to make these tartlets, showcasing ricotta cheese. Ricotta is low in fat, high in protein and exceptionally versatile – use to stuff large brown mushrooms with a herby garlic ricotta for filling meat-free suppers, use in berry or banana smoothies to up the protein content of your morning beverage or use on sandwiches instead of cottage or cream cheese.

Spoon ricotta into ripe in-season figs and bake, like I did with this Baked Fig with Smoked Salt, Ricotta & Crispy Bacon recipe.

How about a low fat lasagne with punch? Aubergine Chilli Lasagne using ricotta instead of a high calorie bechamel.

I made these very simple ricotta cheese and double mushroom tartlets- using fresh and dried mushrooms, rehydrated for double the flavour in a crispy phyllo outer.

I drizzled them lightly in a lovely white balsamic truffle glaze I brought back from Andorra, that teeny country sandwiched between France and Spain last week.

I hope you enjoy using ricotta cheese and share your recipe ideas with me as well.

For more and the recipe, visit Food and the Fabulous