Toast Tuesday: recipes for whole wheat sourdough bread, ricotta and caramelised pears

Toast. A humble, simple and traditional food that has fed generations. It's unbelievable how social media has altered how we eat and perceive foods. Twenty years ago, toasts weren't fancy, nor oats, nobody in Europe knew about avocados, meals were enjoyed but food was simply eaten.

With all the delicious flatbreads around the world, it might be a Western thing but I love a good toast! During my childhood, breakfast consisted of white bread toasts with butter and apricot or peach jam, every morning until I was 19. And what about warm sandwiches? or sugar+butter+bread 💥 I mean, bread makes everything better! Where I come from, we eat everything with a good baguette or loaf of bread 🍞

Now for this recipe, I went all Martha Stewart and made the loaf of bread, the ricotta, and the caramelised pears from scratch. I chose to bake a spelt, rye and whole wheat bread from one of my favourite bakers. This recipe calls for slightly higher hydration, which might be a little tricky for beginners. If you are not familiar with sourdough, you can read my post here or choose any other recipe with or without sourdough. Otherwise, simply get a good quality bread. Personally, I always enjoy rye or pumpernickel 🙊

The ricotta couldn't be easier: and OH SO GOOD! So worth it! I don't think I'll ever buy ricotta again. The caramelised pears are the easiest, and it's absolutely possible to adapt the recipe to any fruit you have in excess or that is in season.

Finally, I toasted some walnuts with some cinnamon and added chopped mint for a beautiful contrast of colours. We have goldens from the pears, the walnuts, and the bread, whites from the ricotta, and lush green from the mint 🌈

If you decide to make this recipe, let me know how it goes in the comments ⭐️

Whole wheat sourdough bread (Recipe from theperfectloaf.com)

Ricotta

Ingredients

1 litre whole milk

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

A pinch of salt

Utensils: cheesecloth, butter muslin, or any clean

Method

1. In a big pot, bring milk to a boil.

2. Immediately after, put the milk aside from the heat and add the lemon juice, the apple cider vinegar, and a pinch of salt.

3. Stir well and let the mixture rest for 30 minutes.

4. After 10 minutes, stir again. Pea size lumps should be visible above and a lot of watery liquid below.

5. Once the mixture is at room temperature, grab a cheesecloth and a strainer and pour the ricotta mixture through it.

6. Grab a bowl and place the strainer and the cheesecloth above put it aside for 10 minutes.

7. After 10 minutes, press the cloth to remove the liquid excess.

8. Place the mixture in a bowl or container and store in the fridge for up to a week.

Caramelised pears

Ingredients

3 medium-sized pears (I used pears passe crassane)

1 orange, juiced

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional: Brown sugar to sprinkle

Method

Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Wash the pears and cut them in quarters, put aside.

Grab a bowl and mix together the maple syrup, the orange juice and the vanilla.

Bath the pieces of pear in the orange mixture and place in an oven-proof pan (I used a loaf pan).

Pour the remaining liquid mixture and sprinkle some brown sugar, that way the pears will caramelise on top.

Bake for 45 minutes and every 15 minutes brush the pears with the excess liquid at the bottom of the pan. The pears are supposed to be tender but they should hold their shape.

Once cooked, serve immediately over some toast or with some ice cream.

Bon app!