Baked Ricotta with roasted tomatoes, onion, arugula and parmesan is one of the best and easy cheese recipes ever! A perfect recipe for brunch or as an appetizer.

Baked Ricotta with Roasted Tomatoes and Onions on a glass pie plate, wooden table

Baked ricotta with roasted tomatoes and onions. And arugula. And parmesan shavings. A few good olive oil swirls. More parmesan in the batter.

Yes, baked ricotta rocks! So easy and so good.

Table of Contents show

This new situation in my life where I work full time – and then some – and try to blog whenever the hell I can, comes hand in hand with the fact that I try to reach for simple recipes, as in one-bowl situations where no trip to the grocery store is required.

I haven’t made proper bread in ages – remember the cinnamon sugar challah or the graham cracker dough almond raspberry rolls from scratch?.

What is ricotta cheese anyway?

Ricotta is a soft, grainy cheese (image above) made from cow’s milk in this case (though it can also be made with goat, sheep or buffalo milk). The type I use for all of my recipes is the regular ricotta sold in supermarkets or specialty stores. It’s creamy, moist and has an almost sweet taste.

Quality varies according to brands and you can find some with additives to make it thicker or whatever. I try to buy original ricotta sourced from good small producers. It tastes much better and I like the consistency more.

Assembling Baked Ricotta with Roasted Tomatoes and Onions, basil leaves and parmesan cheese on wooden table

I made a sweet ricotta pie to take to the office a few weeks back, a type of dessert loved by everyone here where Italian food is as common as dulce de leche, and, as it usually happens, had ricotta left in the fridge. A lot, two pounds. And the idea of using it for a dessert or cake again was not very appealing.

Close up slice of baked Ricotta with Roasted Tomatoes and Onions

Then I remembered baked ricotta, a recipe from one of my baking idols, Nancy Silverton. Yes, I’m a complete groupie. And a Maida Heatter one too, when it comes to baking. Proud of it. I have so many of their books, it’s embarrassing, or not really, they’re worth every single penny.

So the original recipe is in her sandwich book, but I had no bread in the house, and this was a no-trip-to-the-grocery situation (to get the bread), so this kind of ricotta ‘pizza’ happened. I was tempted to add it to the title, but well, it’s not really pizza, just round and not too tall.

It turns out it’s way better without the bread. It’s fast, tastes amazing, can be tailored to taste.

What add-ons can you use?

Pizza style, from the traditional cheese to pepperoni, veggie, meat and sauce, whatever you like.
Spice it up, add some sriracha or Tabasco or hot spices to the batter.
Fresh herbs and cheese, like you would use in a risotto or appetizer.
Cheese, of course. Add all the odds and ends of cheeses you have in the fridge, it all works.

How to store baked ricotta?

It lasts at least four days, covered, in the fridge, reheats beautifully and is good at room tº too.

Close-up slice of baked ricotta with onion and tomatoes

Other recipes with ricotta you might like:

Tomato Ricotta Bacon Bruschetta
Summer Berry Ricotta squares
Orange Ricotta Cheesecake
Pumpkin Ricotta Gnocchi