We love ricotta: milky and fresh, it bends to our whims in lasagnas and cheesecakes, yet has no problem asserting itself on a scantily garnished crostino. For this contest, there's no need to make your own, but feel free, especially if you're got great tips to share. For a video of A&M telling CHOW.com all about...
These are not your usual contests. We have a slightly nutty system but it works. Together, the Food52 community has created two cookbooks this way -- there’s no stopping us now. Read about it
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Louisa's ingredients: ricotta, flour, butter, apple, lemon zest, sugar and eggs.
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Flouring the pan.
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Amanda looks skeptical. As a matter of fact, so does Merrill.
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Nothing but smiles now. We're making cake!
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This one starts with the classic butter and sugar combo.
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3 eggs give it lift and richness.
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Bowls, bowls everywhere!
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Once you peel the apple, you'll want to grate and use it quickly -- it browns in an instant.
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Back to Amanda, at the mixer -- she adds the flour, salt and baking powder (missing from the ingredient shot).
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Amanda dangles the ricotta precariously.
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A gentle touch is important at the end.
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The batter is light and beautiful.
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The cake almost looks like a frittata when it emerges from the oven.
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The pasta ingredients: rigatoni, sausage, canned tomatoes, fresh ricotta, fennel, ricotta salata, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, garlic and peas.
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Amanda clutches the garlic with glee.
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This recipe calls for a food mill -- if you don't have one, you can whizz the tomatoes in a food processor or blender to puree them.
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Some days, we overlook minor details like removing the skin from crushed garlic cloves. Luckily, it's usually no big deal.
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Amanda gets groovy on her way to the stove.
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She nonchalantly dusts the pot with red pepper flakes as if they were salt -- this sauce packs some heat.
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Instead of onion, carrot and celery, Aliwaks's tomato sauce starts with a fragrant base of fennel and garlic. We like her style!
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Our milled tomatoes went into the pot, and we let the sauce gently reduce for a couple of hours, intensifying the flavor.
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Meanwhile, we browned some nice, fat sausages in a cast iron pan.
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Once the sauce had thickened, we cut the sausages into rounds and tipped them in.
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Rigatoni: an underappreciated pasta shape. Until now.
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Aliwaks wisely has you reserve some pasta water to thin the sauce as needed.
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The peas go in right at the end, just to warm through.
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We shaved our ricotta salata with a peeler. It worked very nicely.
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Mangia!
