Ricotta with Epazote-Hazelnut Pesto

Summer is a fun season for me because it’s when my garden explodes. Every day for several months I’m challenged to think creatively and critically about how to use up all the stuff in garden. This daily Iron Chef match between me and the garden pushes my cooking and preservation techniques, and creates new flavor combinations unique to my culinary background and the region where I live.

Enter, this ricotta.

If you’re here for the epazote pesto recipe—I don’t blame you. It’s great. I ate it with scrambled eggs for breakfast and it can be tossed into a cold or a hot pasta dish for a quick meal. I recommend making the pesto 24 hours in advance to allow flavors to meld. Consider doubling this recipe because it gets gobbled up fast.

The dehydrated squash was an exercise in keeping up with the garden. Thanks to my new dehydrator, I’ve been able to handle the summer squash harvest. Drying them is a whole new flavor experience—in drawing out all the water of a typically water-dense fruit, the squash becomes intensely flavorful like potato chips. They don’t even need salt because they hold up on their own.

I recommend dehydrating the squash and flor de calabaza (squash blossom) at least 24 hours in advance. If you want to go the quick and easy route, this ricotta would also be delicious with grilled calabaza and uncooked blossoms, or just thin sliced calabaza on a mandolin.

Dehydrated calabaza & flor de calabaza

• 1 small summer squash, yellow or green, between 6-8” in length

• 4-5 squash blossoms

Epazote-hazelnut pesto

• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 5 garlic cloves, peeled

• 1/2 cup hazelnuts

• 10-12 sprigs epazote, leaves only

• 5 sprigs parsley, thick stems removed

• 3 sprigs basil, thick stems removed

1 cup ricotta, homemade or store-bought

1 lemon, zest and juice separated

Purple basil (or small green basil leaves), leaves only

1 serrano chile, thin slice

Maldon sea salt

On a mandolin, slice squash thinly lengthwise (approx. 1/16”). Place on a dehydrator tray with plenty of space between each slice.

Using scissors, cut blossom at base to separate the flower from the stem base. Stem, along with flower stamen, can be removed as one piece. Make one cut in blossom so the blossom lays flat on a dehydrator tray with plenty of space between blossom edges.

Put both trays in dehydrator at 115F for approximately 12 hours. If squash are larger, they could stay in dehydrator for up to 24 hours. When completely dry, store squash and blossom separately in a cool, dry place.

For pesto, add olive oil to a medium saucepan on medium heat until oil shimmers. Add garlic and hazelnuts and let cook until just golden and then remove from heat. (Keep your eye on the garlic so it doesn’t burn! Burnt, bitter garlic is no good.) Add herbs to pan and let warmth from pan soften the herbs and cool slightly.

Add everything to blender and process until incorporated with some texture still. Add salt to taste until you feel like you could eat spoonfuls of it endlessly.

Put a cup of ricotta in the center of your dish. Spoon a generous amount of pesto on top of and around ricotta. Add lemon juice and zest on top of and around ricotta. Then place dried zucchini slices, dried blossoms, purple basil, sliced chile, and sea salt.

Serve ricotta with some grilled bread and try not to eat it all in one bite. Provecho!