Fried ricotta omelet (ricotta fritta cu l'ovu)

4 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
¾ pounds Rennet-curdled ricotta
(or 1 lb acid or vinegar curdled ricotta)
3 Eggs
Sea salt
¼ cup Extra-virgin olive oil
Black pepper
16 Pitted black oil-cured olives

Directions

Drain ricotta. Slice ricotta into roughly 3-inch triangles or circles, about 1 inch thick. Break eggs into bowl, add salt to taste and beat until fluffy. Heat oil over medium heat in heavy, well-cured skillet large enough to accommodate ricotta in 1 layer. Slip ricotta and olives into skillet and fry for 5 minutes, nudging with wooden spoon every once in a while to keep cheese from sticking. Turn ricotta over with spatula. It will not have taken much color, but should be firm and easy to handle. Roll olives onto another side. Fry this side 2 minutes (it will continue to brown after eggs are added). Pour beaten eggs over ricotta and olives. Evenly distribute them with fork. Be sure that there are no olives at very edge. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook until underside is rich golden brown, about 8 minutes. This can be checked by gently lifting 1 edge with spatula. Remove cover and place skillet under broiler as close to flame as possible. Leave door open with pan handle sticking out. Cook until golden, about 2 minutes.

Carefully slide omelet, face up, onto plate. Use pieces of brown paper or paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Add few coarse grindings of black pepper, slice and serve. Yields 4 servings.

Each serving: 362 calories; 571 mg sodium; 202 mg cholesterol; 32 grams fat; 4 grams carbohydrates; 15 grams protein; 0.44 gram fiber Comments: You need to use ricotta that is dry enough to fry, but not ricotta salata. It's best if you buy rennet-curdled ricotta from a local producer, but if you can only find watery, mass-produced ricotta, you may be able to prepare it before frying. Take a 1-pound plastic container of ricotta and poke numerous holes in the sides and bottom with a small knife.

Set the container in a bowl, and let it drain for 1 hour. Push the ricotta down with a soup spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as possible, then remove the ricotta from the container as from a mold. Dry the surface of the ricotta with paper towels. The ricotta should then be dry enough to slice and fry. The Test Kitchen found that this method did not work with the Polly-O brand of ricotta. It did work with the Precious and Frigo brands. Low fat and nonfat ricottas are not recommended because they are more watery than whole ricotta. Recipe Source: Los Angeles Times - 12-02-1998 Formatted for Mastercook by Lynn Thomas - dcqp82a@...

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