Nothing Better

There is nothing better than cheesecake. Well, maybe a good piece of dark chocolate. Or chocolate cheesecake. But cheesecake on its own is pretty special. Smooth, rich, creamy. Good stuff. So when looking for recipes to use up my supply of zucchini and summer squash, how excited was I to find that 101 Cookbooks had made zucchini cheesecake! Its a savory one, obviously, and it uses ricotta instead of cream cheese, along with luscious goat cheese. But it was still rich and quite delicious, with a burst of lemon and an airy texture from the pockets of shredded squash.





I played around with the recipe a little bit, adding in greek yogurt and substituting dill with chives from my garden. Next time I think I'll add in olives or sundried tomatoes, for a little extra salty flavor.  The original instructions suggested you cool completely before eating, but we couldn't wait that long.  It smelled too good.  It was delicious warm, but we will try it at room temperature when we eat the leftovers.  Like cheesecake is supposed to be.


Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake

adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 medium zucchini, grated on a box grater

1 medium summer squash, grated on a box grater

2 cups ricotta cheese

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 shallot, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

handful of snipped chives

zest of 1 lemon

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese

• Preheat oven to 325º
• Butter a 7 - 9 " springform pan
• Toss zucchini and summer squash in a colander with a sprinkle of salt and let drain for 10 - 15 minutes
• Turn squash into a clean dish towel and squeeze out all excess moisture. Set aside
• In a large bowl, toss ricotta, yogurt, parmesan, shallot, garlic, chives, and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper.  Stir in eggs
• Add squash and stir until well combined
• Pour mixture into prepared pan
• Bake for 1 hour
• Remove from oven and sprinkle with goat cheese
• Bake another 15 - 20 minutes until just set
• Run under broiler to brown the goat cheese a little more
• Let sit about 5 minutes, then remove rim of springform pan.
• Serve warm or at room temperature

On the side, I served some roasted beets and sauteed beet greens, tossed with a lemon juice and mustard vinaigrette.

I thought that my blueberry crumb bars deserved a little more attention here. Derek and I finished them off last night and I am so sad they're gone.

Bye bye, blueberries.