Add whipped ricotta to your summer salad! It’s easy and different!

salad on black plates with small black bowl of tiny toasts

One of my most popular posts is this one with whipped ricotta. Especially in the summer! It can take a regular green salad to a new level and it can even be a main course for a simple light lunch.

Whipped ricotta on two black plates ready to be topped with salad.

Whipped Ricotta Salad

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We love this salad as a simple main course in the summer. Make sure to serve with some bruschetta toasts or crackers to scoop up the leftover ricotta on the plate.

Author: annie diamond
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2-3 1x

Ingredients

Scale

Whipped ricotta:

one cup whole milk ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt to taste

For the dressing:

one cup fresh basil leaves
2–3 tablespoon pine nuts, lightly toasted (plus extra for serving)
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3–4 tablespoons olive oil

For the salad:

One cup cherry tomatoes
12–18 snap peas
2 cups baby arugula
1 cup butter lettuce

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Instructions

Place the ricotta, olive oil and salt in the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. It takes only about 30 seconds.
Remove and set aside. Do not clean out the bowl of the food processor (it will be part off the dressing).
To prepare the salad dressing: Place the basil, pine nuts, vinegar and red pepper flakes in the bowl with the remaining ricotta. Turn on and drizzle the olive oil into the bowl of the food processor and blend until smooth.
For the salad: Toss the tomatoes with olive oil and roast for 8-10 minutes in a 350º oven or simply toss with olive oil and use fresh.
Toss the tomatoes, arugula, butter lettuce, snap peas with the dressing.
Assemble salad by first spreading the ricotta on plates in a circle on each. Top with the salad leaving some of the ricotta showing. Serve right away!

Notes

We prefer to roast the tomatoes, but if you have fresh tomatoes right from the garden, skip that and use fresh. I also like to sprinkle the finished salad with a few toasted pine nuts so people know it has nuts.

Whipped ricotta 2 ways – Salad and an easy appetizer–One thing I always keep in my refrigerator is a container of ricotta cheese. An unopened container can keep for months. There are so many options for Ricotta these days, but any of them will whip into something that seems too good to be Ricotta. Growing up Ricotta was right there with cottage cheese. Ricotta has come a long way. A few weeks ago Brent made dinner and this was the salad I came home to after work. I mean after 30 years of marriage he still can surprise me. He used this recipe from Giada, but roasted the tomatoes rather than just tossing them in olive oil. We both love slow roasted cherry tomatoes and sweet butter lettuce.

Whipped ricotta with salad and caramelized roasted cherry tomatoes.

Brent is the master of making something out of nothing and improvising with every recipe. I have a terrible habit of finding a recipe and going to three stores to find the right ingredients. Brent can make the most amazing dinners with what we have in the refrigerator and pantry and make it all look beautiful. I guess that’s why I married him! We met and married in only three months—-30 years ago today! We were married on a sailboat in San Diego.So here’s another way we use Ricotta for a super simple appetizer. Madeline had a couple of friends stopping by and in a matter of minutes we had a quick appetizer prepared. I always keep a few bags of Bruschettini Snack Size Toasts on hand. They make for the perfect one-bite with a dip of whipped ricotta. Serve with some Castelvetrano Olives and your favorite Summer drink and you’re all set!

Whipped Ricotta as a simple appetizer