Directions

Put the ricotta into a small bowl.

Rough chop the pistachios on a cutting board with your chef’s knife or pulse (on-off/on-off) briefly in the food processor. Don’t over-process. We want small pieces of nuts, not powdered pistachios. (Since this is such a small amount of nuts, you will have more control over the size of the chopped nuts if you chop by hand with a knife and cutting board rather than use the food processor. Just saying…)

Mix 1 heaping tablespoon of chopped pistachios into the bowl of ricotta along with the grated lemon rind, the chives or dried shallots, if using. Mix well. Season to taste with a pinch of kosher salt and a twist of fresh black pepper. (Save 2 tablespoons of chopped pistachios to sprinkle over the finished dish.)

Choose a serving dish and spread out the ricotta in an even layer over the bottom of the plate. Leave a 1-2-inch border around the edges of the plate. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set-aside.

slice the tomatoes

Wash and dry the tomatoes. (Drying the tomatoes before slicing them will help them not slip away from you, while slicing—safety first!)

Remove the core from the tomatoes. Use a serrated knife and thinly slice the tomatoes.

Fan-out the tomato slices over the bed of ricotta, overlapping each slice.

Recover with the plastic wrap and set-aside while you make the browned butter.

browned butter

Browned butter in French gastronomy is known as Noisette Butter, because the butter has a nutty aroma when it is browned, and hazelnuts are noisettes in French.

The composition of butter is roughly: 80% butterfat, 12% water and about 8% ‘milk solids’ or whey.

To brown butter, the butter is heated slowly over low-medium heat to separate the components. Swirl the pot often. The water-component of the butter is slowly evaporated and the milk solids separate and eventually fall to the bottom of the pot. Keep the butter gently swirling until it is lightly browned. You will smell its nutty aroma. Remove from heat and let sit. In a few minutes it will become ‘clear’ and you can see through to the bottom of the pot. And the now-browned milk solids will be resting on the bottom of the pot. Let sit for a couple of minutes or until you are ready to serve.

note: you will have extra browned butter which can be saved and refrigerated to use in other dishes. Browned butter is delicious with eggs and fish or scallops…(think Sole Meuniere!)

note: Pour off the extra browned butter into a small container. Pour slowly and be sure to leave the browned bits behind in the pan.

to serve

Remove the plastic wrap from the sliced tomato-ricotta plate. Season the tomatoes lightly with a pinch of kosher salt and a twist of fresh cracked black pepper.

Tip the sauce pan of browned butter to one side and spoon off a tablespoon and drizzle over the tomatoes. Repeat. Avoid spooning up the browned bits at the bottom of the pot.

(If the butter is cool to the touch, re-warm briefly on low heat.)

Tear a few basil leaves into pieces and scatter over the top. Sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of the reserved chopped pistachios as well.

Eat immediately while the butter is still warm.