Breakfast Ricotta Bake

​You will love this light and tasty baked ricotta egg dish. It's similar to a frittata but by skipping the step where you start it in a skillet and finish it in the oven I just pop the whole thing in the oven from the start. So it's not really a frittata, but frittata inspired. It saves time because you don't have to babysit the eggs on the stove top so you're free to be busy with other important things..... like enjoying your morning coffee.

​But anyway, talking about frittatas, I still remember the first time I heard of a frittata and I remember thinking that it was basically a quiche without a pie crust. Hmmm... no pie crust you say? Genius! Just make a quiche with no crust and you have a frittata! This is the perfect solution for anyone watching their calories or if you just don't have time to whip up a pie crust to make a quiche. Which honestly, I don't usually ever have time for first thing in the morning anyway. In fact, I still owe my husband a fresh baked apple pie.... but that's another story, I'll have to get to that pie another day.

So I recently made this ricotta frittata when we were out at the cottage. It was a lazy summer morning and no one was in a rush to go anywhere. Ahhh.... the lazy days of summer. I often have a tub of ricotta cheese in the fridge, it's so versatile so it's pretty much a cottage staple for me. You can use it as a spread, in casseroles, as dessert - see? Super versatile, like this breakfast ricotta bake!

This recipe is really simple, I promise - you can whip it up in less time than it takes for your oven to heat up! It whips up creamy smooth and smells heavenly while baking in the oven. You can play around with the ingredients, this recipe is very forgiving, add mushrooms, onions, ham, the possibilities are endless! But one thing that I know is that you'll have those sleepy heads coming down from the bedroom in no time!
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​INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
- fresh spinach
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
- 1 garlic clove crushed and finely chopped or grated
- pinch of kosher salt
- fresh black pepper
- finely chopped basil or dried basil leaves
- finely chopped parley or dried parsley
- butter or oil for greasing pan


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Keep 4 tbsp of ricotta cheese aside for topping, and whisk together eggs and remaining ricotta cheese until well blended and airy

3. Whisk in parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, pepper and herbs

3. Pour the egg & ricotta mixture into a greased pie dish and place tomatoes, spinach, dollops of ricotta and parmesan on top

4. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the egg & ricotta mixture is set and cooked through

5. Serve warm from the oven and enjoy!

Serves 4