Sheep’s Milk Ricotta with Hazelnut Aillade, Lemon, and Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
When the media review the Mozzarella Bar, they almost always mention having eaten this dish. It is composed of two special ingredients—large hazelnuts that we get from Trufflebert Farms in Eugene, Oregon, and sheep’s milk ricotta imported from Italy—paired in an unusual way. Aillade is a French condiment of garlic pounded with some type of nuts, usually served as a condiment for duck or other meats. We make ours with hazelnuts; it’s one of the few condiments that we make at the restaurant using a mortar and pestle because otherwise it comes out too smooth, like peanut butter.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 8
Ingredients
For the Aillade
For the Vinaigrette and for Serving
Preparation
Step 1
To make the aillade, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325°F.
Step 2
Spread the hazelnuts for both the aillade and for serving the dish on a baking sheet and place them in the oven to toast until they’re golden brown and fragrant, 12 to 15 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally so the nuts brown evenly. Remove the nuts from the oven and set them aside until they are cool enough to touch. Gather the hazelnuts into a clean dishtowel and rub them together inside the towel to remove the skins. Set them aside to cool to room temperature.
Step 3
Put the 1 cup of hazelnuts for the aillade in a large mortar. Sprinkle the nuts with 1/4 teaspoon salt and work the nuts with the pestle, scraping down the sides of the mortar with a rubber spatula, until they become the consistency of wet sand and you see the oil from the nuts leaching out. Add the lemon zest and garlic and work them in with the pestle. Add the hazelnut oil in a slow, steady stream, stirring with the pestle as you add it to keep it emulsified. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if desired. (Use or transfer the aillade into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to several days. Bring it to room temperature before serving.)
Step 4
Transfer the hazelnuts for serving to a bowl, drizzle them with the 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil, sprinkle with salt to taste, and toss to coat the nuts with the seasonings.
Step 5
To make the vinaigrette, combine 1/4 cup of Garlic Confit cloves (about 15 cloves), the lemon juice, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade or the jar of a blender and purée until smooth. With the motor running, drizzle the olive oil that the garlic was cooked in into the food processor, adding enough until you have the consistency of a loose paste. Transfer the vinaigrette to a bowl, taste for seasoning, and add more salt or lemon juice, if desired. Use the vinaigrette or transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to three days.
Step 6
To serve, spoon 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette in the center of each of eight salad plates or large soup plates. Put the ricotta in a medium bowl and stir it vigorously with a spoon to fluff it up. Spoon a rounded 1/3 cup of ricotta in an uneven pile on top of each serving of vinaigrette. Use a microplane or fine grater to zest a few gratings of lemon peel over each serving of cheese. Cut the larger Garlic Confit cloves in half lengthwise and scatter the garlic and hazelnuts around the ricotta, dividing them evenly. Smear 1 heaping tablespoon of aillade on each crostino, leaving the edges of the toast visible, and sprinkle the aillade with sea salt. Cut each slice of toast in half on an extreme bias, place two halves on the side of each plate, and serve.
Suggested Wine Pairing
Step 7
Offida Pecorino (The Marches)
