Baked Ricotta with Caramelised Nectarines

This is a Gordon Ramsay creation though I’ve changed the fruit to make use of what I could find. It’s such a brilliant little recipe though as you can change it lots of ways. Perhaps frying fruit in butter and adding alcohol or just using lovely berries (soaked in alcohol again). I’d probably try the cheese with vanilla seeds for a change as well.

Source: Gordon Ramsay: Fast Food

Ingredients: (to serve two but easily multiplied)

250g Ricotta Cheese
Butter

43g icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)

1 large egg

Zest and juice of a lemon (check flavourings before adding too much if you’re doubling)

2tbs caster sugar for dredging

2 ripe nectarines (not easy in this country – try peaches, plums or anything that looks like it may be tasty)

Here’s what I do:

Pre-heat your oven to gas mark 6 (I normally don’t do this at the beginning as I’m such a slow cook but this is ultra-fast so you really do have to do it at the beginning) and butter the base and sides of two ramekins. Dust with icing sugar, turning them to make sure they’re well coated.

            Mix the ricotta, eggs, lemon zest and icing sugar in a large bowl – you only need a fork, ricotta is the easiest cheese to mix. When well blended have a little taste to check it’s sweet and lemony enough (or vanillary if you’re using vanilla) and then share between your ramekins. Stand them on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes (it takes twenty in my oven) – they should be golden and firm, if you just carefully run a knife along the edge it will come away nicely. Allow to cool then put in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

            Cut your fruit into wedges and tip in a bag to dredge in the caster sugar. Fry in a non-stick frying pan with the butter until they caramelise. Add the lemon juice (or maybe alcohol if you fancy) and deglaze the pan. Remove from the heat. Turn out the ricottas on to individual plates and arrange the caramelised fruit around the sides spooning the pan juices on to make it look lovely.
Points to note:
If your fruit is very ripe (like mine was for this photo) then it will be hard to caramelise, you need to get your pan very, very hot if you want a chance of it.
The ricotta gives a very clean, light texture - I'm going to try it again with mascarpone and see if I can create something more creamy - but the ricotta is great if you're wanting to feel healthy or after a heavy meal.
I used pot ramekins for this photo - I think if you use metal you may get a better colour to the cheese.
Do please let me know how you get on with it.