Ricotta Salata

The salty cheese and piloncillo makes these gorditas go wonderfully with a hot chocolate or champurrado.

Seek out a slightly underripe cantaloupe for this salty-sweet, crunchy, and juicy summer side; firmer flesh makes it easier to slice into ribbons.

Toss roasted squash and charred Brussels sprouts through a salad of chickpeas, salami, olives, and cheese; add a lemony oregano vinaigrette and enjoy.

This ribbon salad is evidence that you need a mandoline in your life. The shaved cucumber and melon will release some liquid and lose a bit of crunch after they’re dressed, so toss everything together just before serving.

This side dish is so fast and easy, you can make a big batch and have it for the whole week. The simple marinade will fancy up any type of canned beans.

Turn any extra hardy greens or herbs you can find in your fridge into dinner tonight with this pesto pasta.

Spelt spaghetti has an incredible nutty taste and is a great alternative to regular spaghetti, as it's high in wheat bran fiber, or beta-glucans, which help keep our cholesterol levels in check.

This raw tomato sauce gets texture from zucchini and body from toasted nuts that are blended into the base. You can sub almonds for hazelnuts.

With super fresh tomatoes you don't need much more! This toast combines sharp ricotta salata cheese with plump green tomatoes and lemon juice for a refreshing bite. We like green zebra tomatoes for their pretty yellow stripes and bright, floral flavor, but any ripe green tomato will work in this dish.

Make the rice before you leave, and pack the vinaigrette in a little jar on the side. You'll thank us, Scout's honor.

If you've got both a camp stove and a grill, you're golden: Prep the salsa over the live fire, and make perfect eggs on the propane stove.

Massaging the dressing into the kale with your hands helps break down some of the fibers so the greens are more tender.

Let’s be clear: If you’re hosting the dinner party to end all dinner parties—Grandma’s good china is out of storage, the napkins have been ironed, and you’re polishing the silver—this is the ultimate first course. At first glance it may resemble a basic pear-and-arugula salad, but look closer and you’ll find that everything about it is just a little bit special, from the Champagne vinaigrette, to the creamy, salty ricotta salata, to the rich and savory pancetta. The ingredients do cost a little more, but it’s worth it.

These dark leafy greens never tasted better. Be sure to seek out lacinato kale (also sold as Tuscan kale, black kale, dinosaur kale, or cavolo nero), a variety that is noticeably more tender and mild than the common curly kale, also known as Scotch kale. Take the time to massage the leaves in oil with your hands; the result will be kale that seems to melt in your mouth. If ricotta salata isn’t readily available at your market, try pecorino romano, another Italian cheese that’s easy to grate and has a similar salty flavor.

Like the classic combination of melon and prosciutto? Then you'll love this main-course pasta salad.

This salad of melon, sweet pepper, salty cheese and earthy basil recalls the watermelon salad that we all love so much, but its elegant components make it more refined. Salt is key to marrying the flavors, so be generous, tasting as you go. Be liberal, too, with a very good extra-virgin olive oil—it is very much a part of this salad.

Francobolli is Italian for “postage stamps,” and that’s what these small, filled pasta shapes look like. They are filled with braised short ribs that we whip with Parmigiano and then top with a simple tomato sauce. The reason for you to make this is the same reason we make it: to use leftover Brasato. This recipe makes more ravioli than you will need for four servings. You can either freeze the remaining ravioli or double the sauce recipe. If you double the sauce recipe, toss the sauce with the ravioli four servings at a time. Ricotta salata is ricotta cheese that has been pressed and salted. The result is a hard, bright white grating cheese with a much stronger flavor than fresh ricotta. Matt got the idea to bake the cheese in a very hot oven, which gives it a smoky flavor.

You can prepare the vegetables up to 2 hours before serving and keep them covered in the refrigerator. If desired, include some poblano or other chiles along with the peppers. You can substitute feta cheese for the ricotta salata.

Ricotta salata is a firmer version of fresh ricotta; it is perfect for shaving over salads.