Late Summer Trio of Toasts

This trio of toasts, consisting of grilled eggplant with ricotta, radish and corn salad with ricotta, and sumac-spiced tomato with a cucumber yogurt sauce, was inspired by many recipes from Bon Appétit. I was also able to make the ricotta by myself (using the It’s Alive recipe).

For the ricotta, pour 8 cups of milk into a large dutch oven. Make sure that the pot you are using is large and thick bottomed to heat evenly and to avoid burning the milk. While bringing to 180 F, measure out 4 tabelspoons of distilled white vinegar. You can use lemon juice in place of the vinegar, but acidity varies across citrus fruits. Other clear vinegars may also be used, like apple cider, but keep in mind that these will change the flavor profile of the ricotta slightly. You will also need to measure out 2 teaspoons of salt. Something that I have learned recently is that not all salts are created equally. Some have higher concentrations of sodium compared to others (Morton vs. Diamond Crystal). I found that using 2 teaspoons of Morton aired on the salty side, but that it worked perfectly fine with Diamond Crystal. When the milk reaches 180 F, pour in the vinegar and salt and whisk vigorously. Allow the curd to separate from the whey (yellowish liquid) and strain using cheesecloth.

The first toast is grilled eggplant, parsley, and ricotta. In my recipe, I used Italian eggplant, which are striped in appearance, but globe eggplant would work as well. Cut the eggplant into ¾ inch planks. Toss eggplant in oil, salt, and pepper before grilling. Grill until lightly charred. Dice the eggplant into small pieces. Spread ricotta on grilled pieces of baguette and top with eggplant and parsley. Finish with flaky salt.

The second toast consists of radish, corn, jalapeño, parsley, lemon, and ricotta. This was the crowd favorite – they loved the balance between the spice of the chile with the cool ricotta. Slice a handful of radishes and 1 jalapeño and mix together with about a half of a cup of corn kernels and chopped parsley. Fresh corn kernels have an inherent milky-ness that work perfectly along with the sweetness. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon and season with salt and pepper. Again, spread ricotta on grilled pieces of baguette and top with the radish salad.

The third toast is a riff on falaffal-spiced tomato toast. My recipe uses similar spices of sumac, chili powder, cayenne, and garlic powder to liven late summer heirloom tomatoes. While preparing the other toasts, I sliced the tomatoes and topped with the spice blend (equal parts sumac, chili powder, and garlic powder with a small pinch of cayenne) and salt and allowed them to marinate. For the cucumber yogurt sauce, I used a cup of plain yogurt, the juice of a quarter of a lemon, small diced 3-inch piece of an English cucumber, chopped parsley, salt, and pepper. Make sure to use regular yogurt as Greek yogurt is too thick. Top grilled baguette with cucumber yogurt sauce and add on the sliced tomato.

Enjoy!