Once upon a time there were two sisters. One, named Jen – athletic, smart, loyal, equipped with an infectious laugh, lover of wine, and has slight road rage. The other, Amy – embraces the morning, creative (some would say), mother, Type A personality, and suffers from foot-in-mouth disease.
Very different. Very good friends.
And what do two good friends, who haven’t seen each other in awhile, do for fun? Look through food magazines, of course.
There we were last weekend, talking and drooling over pretty pictures of pasta, fruit salad, chocolate cake, and quiche, when she handed me this lovely concoction. I immediately devoured it.
Toast. But not just any toast. Thick Italian bread, smothered with homemade ricotta cheese and jam. Um, Hello. It was so simple and so fantastic. And had me wondering, “Why haven’t I thought of this?”
Have you all been enjoying this combination for years, and I am just coming out of the dark ages?
I fully blame it on my love of cereal (which has been my breakfast choice for, well…forever.) And, as we all know, blame is easier than accepting our own faults.
It’s only been a week since I returned from my trip, but I’m already on my second loaf of crusty bread and second batch of ricotta. I’m in love.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
I grew up on ricotta and jam and toast. My Italian grandfather ate it most mornings. (cottage cheese would suffice if there was no ricotta.) I thought everyone ate it for breakfast!
Grapefruit – I will try that! I love honey. Thanks so much for stopping by and the kind words!
If you like Ricotta with jam on toast – try ricotta with honey and toast. Fabulous!
Am drooling at the sight of your toast and it’s just too bad I don’t have ricotta in the fridge.
Dani – I’ve heard homemade ricotta is incredible. And, yes, I’m totally overdoing it! I accept your squishy hug, and I raise you one.
a) The photo is mouth-wateringly, droolingly, yummily wonderful!
b) I used to eat bagels with cream cheese and grape jam, so I know I’d love this
c) I’ve got all of the ingredients & good intentions to make baguettes ~ just haven’t gotten to it yet, and now I’m thinking I might have to get what I need to make my own ricotta/soft cheese from the recipe I’ve been wanting to try in the archives at Passionate About Baking
and d) I hope you’re not overdoing {though I know there’s much to do} and I am sending MUCH affection your way, dear. *big squishy hugs*
That photo is incredible–you have me drooling and wanting some for breakfast! ;-)
Bryan – Greetings! I am completely flattered by the comment, and humbled by your presence here…take one bite of this combo and there is no going back. Trust me.
Forgive the lack of sophistication, but a photo like that simply makes me say
ME WANT.
oh so gorgeous and sexy! Thick bread with ricotta and jam- comfort!
Melissa – Hee hee. Love that you thought of me. I would think of me too if I saw this episode ;-) Funny thing is that Jacques Pepin is French, and yet everyone relates ricotta to the Italians. See, it’s such a universal spread. I am all over this – Haley and Trevor will declare me the best mommy ever (at least for the day.)
Just watched a DVR’ed episode of Jacques Pepin last night in which he made a kid-friendly dessert. He put sugar in ricotta, dabbed it on the plate, laid a half of a large graham cracker on it, put a mound of the mixture on top of that, put the other half of the graham cracker on and then drizzled heated peach jam all over it. Totally made me think of you and this post.
That sounds lovely! So much lighter than cream cheese.
Jude – I think I want to move into your refrigerator.
Mike – I’m not familiar with this, but you can bet I’ll be stopping by Google in the next few minutes to get the skinny.
Mom/Dad – you both would love this…and low fat ricotta works fine.
Lynda – I hadn’t thought about the ricotta pancakes. Brilliant!
Wow! That looks wonderful and what a great way to use up the rest of the ricotta from the Ricotta Pancakes.
You had to start with foot in mouth. I certainly hope ricotta and jam on toast is an antidote. I will walk to Safeway, get a baguette, some ricotta, and some mint Oreos, and have myself a party!
I have used cream cheese and jam, cottage cheese and jam but never thought of ricotta. Of course, that great bread makes all the difference. Can’t wait to try this one.
This reminds me of Quince Paste and cheese (often served on a baguette), which is also wonderful. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it.
Oh man, I have apple-smoked cheddar, sage derby, farmer, provolone, shredded Mexican and horseradish cheeses in the fridge, but no ricotta. And I needed something on my English muffin Sunday morning.
Ricotta and jam! I’ll be prepared next weekend.
Kristy – Nice to see you here!
Melissa – Okay, now I don’t feel so bad if YOU have never had this combo. We’re lucky to be close with our sisters. Yea for us.
Jen – Remember when we lived together during college and used to steam whole artichokes (with butter or mayo) and sit on our crappy furniture and eat it? We felt so awesome. LOL. Oh, we’ve come a long way. Come to think of it…artichoke with butter sounds really good right now.
Joanne – This has your name written all over it. It’s okay. We’ll go down together.
Cookie – The ricotta spreads easier than cream cheese, too.
Maryann – Yep, those Italians. Crazy brilliant with food. Glad to hear you have a sister you’re close with, too. We’re a rare breed I think.
Lisa -Well, hello there stranger! Long time. And thanks for the photo compliment. My screen saver is of my dogs, but I totally feel ya on the food porn idea. Although, I fear I would eat all day long.
Amy, I always want to use your pretty pictures as my computer wallpaper at work – would help me get through an otherwise long and frustrating day.
I’m going to stop by the store on my way home and pick up some crusty bread, strawberry jam (my fav), and ricotta. Don’t know if I’ll make it to breakfast time though. Looks heavenly.
I join you in the I’ve-never-thought-of-this club. I’ve been known to put some cottage cheese and jelly on toast, but I am all over this idea – clearly an Italian creation. And we all know that Italians are fantastic in the kitchen.
I also join Jen and Melissa on the sister front. We’re all lucky.
Jen, that sounds like me and my sister. Very cool.
What a wonderful combo! I’ve had cream cheese and jam on toast before but Ricotta is so much creamier. I’ll have to give that a try!
Moan. And. Groan.
Somehow I must have missed this ingenious creation. Somewhere. Along the way. I might be in love too (i.e. you just created a monster). So this is what sisters are good for!
ROFL (especially about the slight road rage).
Amy is just as loyal as I am and incredibly thoughtful, and she is right; even with our different interests in life, we both, at some point, began to love to cook (we’ve always loved to eat), and one of our favorite pastimes is looking through the recipe books and drooling, while comparing notes on what we’ve made and how we’ve altered the recipe.
I am so glad I could introduce something so utterly yummy into your repertoire!
I never knew of this either. Sounds like a great start to the day… I used to love cereal, but stopped eating it some years ago. Don’t know why I lost the taste for it.
Wait? How come I have not seen this on the counter? How many times have you made it? You haven’t left any for me? Oh…COME….ON! Look, I know I like Tobasco on…well…everything (I put it on Asian the other day. Yumsers.), but you could at least leave a little of this for me.
I promise I won’t put Tobasco on it. Or Bacon.
Ricotta and jam is a delicious combo on a sandwich!
WOW, that looks delicious! I’ve been in the dark ages with you, girl!
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