Spring Vegetable Soup With Ricotta Toast Recipes

SPRING VEGETABLE SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat, and cook the onion and garlic until tender. Mix in potato, broccoli, corn, spinach, mushrooms, carrots, and cabbage. Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer 20 minutes, until potato is tender.
• Stir egg noodles and white beans into the pot, and continue cooking 7 minutes, or until noodles are tender and beans are heated through.

BAKED RICOTTA WITH SPRING VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, add the asparagus and blanch 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Toss mushrooms with 2 teaspoons of the oil and sear in a small skillet over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
• Grease a 9-inch cast iron skillet with 1 teaspoon oil. Place ricotta in a bowl. Fold in the Parmesan, mozzarella, oregano, egg and egg yolk. Season with salt and pepper. Spread in the cast-iron skillet. Gently swirl in the pesto, leaving streaks of it.
• Heat a broiler. Place the cast-iron skillet on a burner turned to low and let cook about 10 minutes, until heated through and showing signs of browning along the edges. Remove from heat. Scatter the asparagus, mushrooms and artichokes on top. Sprinkle with scallions and mint. Place under the broiler close to the source of heat until it starts to become lightly dappled, about 6 minutes.
• Meanwhile grill or toast the bread. Brush with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and rub with garlic. Serve the cheese and vegetables directly from the skillet, with grilled bread alongside.

ROASTED RED PEPPER & TOMATO SOUP WITH RICOTTA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the tomatoes, onion and peppers in a roasting tin, toss with the oil and season. Nestle in the garlic and thyme sprigs, then roast for 25-30 mins until all the veg has softened and slightly caramelised. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins into the tin, strip the leaves off the thyme and discard the stalks and garlic skins. Mix the vinegar into the tin then blend everything in a bullet blender or using a stick blender, adding enough water to loosen to your preferred consistency (we used around 150ml).
• Reheat the soup if necessary, taste for seasoning, then spoon into two bowls and top each with a spoonful of ricotta, a few basil leaves, the seeds and a drizzle of oil. Serve with bread for dunking.