Ricciole® ricotta e spinaci au gratin with pallone di gravina in puglia cheese rind, walnut bread crumble, and cherry tomato and leek sauce

Wash and cut cherry tomatoes in half and cook for about two hours at 80°C together with fine salt, cane sugar, thyme leaves, garlic, mandarin peel, sage and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. When they are wilted, put in a mixer and blend everything, pass the sauce through the chinoise and set aside keeping warm. In a pan, stew cut leeks with some extra virgin olive oil over medium heat, add a little water, a pinch of salt, sugar and pepper. When leeks are stewed, blend in a mixer and set aside at warm temperature.

Remove crust from stale bread and chop crumb, put in Pyrex dish, add a little extra virgin olive oil and bake in preheated oven, at 180°C for about 10 minutes. Allow to cool and roughly blend with walnuts. Place the Ricciole® in a greased oven-proof dish, sprinkle atop some grated Pallone di Gravina in Puglia cheese rind, add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and bake at 200°C for 5 minutes.

After grating baking, remove dish from oven, take cherry tomato and leek sauce and mix together with a blender for a few minutes, then merge both sauces. Place a whole Ricciola in the centre of the plate, sprinkle with walnut bread crumble, decorate with the single sauce and garnish with Pallone di Gravina in Puglia cheese rind.

Michele Erriquez advanced training chef – fic.