Honey Orange Ricotta Biscuits

I bought a tub of ricotta cheese about a month ago to make the mr his birthday lasagna, and for some reason, I can't seem to get rid of it. I have been adding spoonfuls of the stuff into his food every now and then, but I still have not managed to go through it. I am starting to think that I bought a magic container that will never empty. And if that is that case, is there a never ending tub of hummus I can buy?

Yesterday I cleaned out the fridge.  The cleaning that involves defrosting, washing the shelves, removing the stuck on crap that has so steadily hung on for the past few months and using any food that needs to be used up. To be honest, there isn't much in the fridge at the moment(which is why I am cleaning the it) but there is the freaking tub of ricotta, ans I want it gone, it is taking up to much space. (for real,. my fridge is tiny) And because we all know that I am the worlds greatest girlfriend lady person in all the land, I decided to, once ans for all, get rid of the ricotta and make the mr some biscuits.

Off topic here but... It's SNOWING!! And not just a tiny bit, we are going to have a couple of inches of white stuff. I am so excited! I must get my winter boots out (I have to find them first)

But the biscuits. These biscuits are super freaking easy. Just a few simple ingredients and 15 minutes and you got yourself home made goodness to make your people(or yourself) happy. They would make a great breakfast thing, made for a brunch situation, or even made with the help of the littles that may or may not be hove from school and eaten as a afternoon snack.  As for me, I am just thrilled to have the space back in the fridge and an empty container that may or may not be magical.

The stuff. A bowl of self rising flour, ricotta cheese, a little bit of honey, and an orange.

Dump the ricotta, a few couple tablespoons of honey, and the zest of the orange into the flour.

And say hi to my new amazing bowl! (Hi bowl, you are so pretty!)

Juice the zested orange and add in 1/2 a cup of the juice.

Now mix everything together until just incorporated.

Scoop dough onto a baking sheet in 12 similar sized balls. Brush the tops with any remaining orange juice you have (if you don't have any, use water) and stick those puppies into the oven (not actual puppies please)

After a quick 9-10 minutes, the biscuit cooking is complete! Golden brown and smelling all biscuit like.

Bust one open, maybe a smear of honey or jam...

And so the things you do with biscuits.. Eat them. I served the first one up tothe mr with a little drizzle of honey (cause I am sweet like that)

Keep on people!

-C

---

Honey Orange Ricotta Biscuits

makes 12respectable sized biscuits

• 1 1/2 cups self rising flour
• 1 navel orange (1/2 cup juice and 2 teaspoon zest)
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup ricotta cheese

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, honey and ricotta. Zest in the rind of the oragne (about 2 teaspoons) then juice the orange and hopefully get at least 1/2 a cup of juice. Add in the 1/ 2 cup of juice and mix until everything is just combined. Scoop out dough into 12 similar sized blobs and place onto a baking sheet. Brush tops of biscuits with any remainingorange juice or water if you don;t have it

Place in oven and bake for 9-11 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the insides are completely baked.

Remove from baking sheet and let cool for a few minutes.

Bust one open and either eat as is or slather with honey, butter, jam, or all three.

Any left overs can be stored in airtight container for 2-3 days. Can be frozen.

Sweet and Savory Ricotta Galettes

I made a pie dough a little while ago with the intention of making a cherry pie…but I ate all the cherries . (I do that a lot… eat all of something that I was intending to use for something else)

And then I think about that saying.. The road to hell is paved in good intentions.

.Well I guess I am going to hell.

So no cherries, but I have a crap load of summer squash (and it's only the beginning) and a few peaches that are in need of some eating. And what's that, a container of ricotta in the fridge from lasagna a couple weeks back…. Meant to be and not in hell yet!

Sure, I could have made one single crust galette, sweet or savory, and thrown it to the masses for consumption, but I figured that I might as well just hit two birds with one stone. A dinner and a dessert, all at once, and call it a victory in time management and putting a dent in the pile of squash on the table. (don't be fooled, I love excess amounts of squash.. It's like the printer paper of the veggie world.. can be used for everything!) And bonus, only one set of dishes! I mean come on, this is so good, easy and just really pretty. I know, I know….. so smart.

Anyway, here, take a look, get inspired and make some pretty dinsert (dinner and dessert) galettes. 

The stuff. For the base, we need one single crust pie dough (that's going to be for two smaller galettes) and some ricotta cheese.  The savory galette has summer squash, salt, pepper, lemon ( the zest) and a couple tomatoes.  The sweet needs honey, a peach, and a few strawberries. 

And if you want, change up your toppings. Pretty much any fruit or veggie combo would work. And spice up the ricotta if you wan. Garlic, fresh thyme, cinnamon… whatever will make you happy.

First things first. Roll ourt dough. You could cut the dough in half and roll two separate disks, but I just rolled out one big rectangle shape.

And onto the baking sheet and into the fridge to rest.

While the dough is chillin, take half of the ricotta and whip it up  with some honey and thinly slice up your fruit.

Take the other half of the ricotta and add a bit os lemon zest, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and mix that up. And thinly slice up the squashes and dice up the tomatoes.

Two crusts(or one cut in half. Smear the honey ricotta on one side, savory on the other, leaving a boarder so you can fold the dough over.

Now pile the fruits on the honey ricotta, veggies on the savory,  and fold the uncheesed part of the crust over. just enough to keep everything from falling out. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the veggies.

Stick into  a preheated oven and bake until the crust is cooked all nice and golden brown and crispy. 

While the galettes are baking, toss the chunks of tomatoes into a skillet with a splash of oil, salt and pepper and stick it into the oven too. Just bake until the tomatoes are nice and soft. You can stick in the oven right away and let the tomatoes cool, or towards the end of the bake time so that you can eat them warm… these tomatoes are good hot or cold.

all baked up, removed from the oven, looking oh so pretty.

Pile the roasted tomatoes onto the savory tart. And if you got it, a bit of chopped freshy fresh basil

And drizzle a little bit more honey on the sweet.

And serve… Is it savory first or do you go sweet?

How about a pice of both. Dnner and dessert.. all on one plate!

Happy Tuesday!

Ba Bye!

-C

---

Sweet and Savory Ricotta Galette's

-Makes 2 small or one large galettes 

• a single pie crust (recipe here.. or use whatever dough you like)
• 1 cup of ricotta cheese

For the savory

• 2 cups thinly sliced green and yellow summer squash*
• 2 roma tomatoes
• salt and pepper
• teaspoon lemon zest
• a few fresh basil leaves
• olive oil

For the Sweet

• 2-3 tablesppons honey
• 1 peach thinly sliced*
• 3-4 strawberries thibky sliced*

*Note. Feeling like blueberry apricot or maybe potatoes and peas? Swap out any fruit and veggie (and spice) combination you want. The possibilities are endless! And if you want to do just one big galette, go for it. 

Roll out pie dough in either 2 separate disks or one large rectange cut in half and.place on baking sheet and stick in fridge. While dough is resting, divide the ricotta into separate bowls. Add the salt, pepper and lemon zest to one, and the honey to the other. Using a fork, whip them up.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

When the oven is preheated, grab the crust from fridge and smear the ricotta fillings evenly on the middle of each crust, leaving about an inch and a half boarder. Layer on the toppings, (sweet on honey, savory on lemon pepper.. or whatever floats your boat) and fold  border over the edges of the filling. Place in oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the crusts are nice and crispy and golden brown.

While those are baking, dice up the tomatoes and toss into a oven safe skillet with a little drizzle of oil and sprinkle of salt. Stick that into the oven for about 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are nice and soft. You can do this right away, or towards the end of the bake time of the galettes… roasted tomatoes are great warm or cold.

When the galettes are done baking, remove from oven and let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving. Top the savory galette with the roasted tomatoes and chopped fresh basil. Drizzle a little more honey on the one with the fruit .

Serve one, then the other, or both at the same time!

Eats good hot, warm, or cold. Utensils not required