Recipe: Winter Citrus and Ricotta Bagel with Pistachios
Recipe: Winter Citrus and Ricotta Bagel with Pistachios
Salt, fat, acid, heat in every bite.
A few days ago, I screenshotted a photo at the Los Angeles bagel shop, Layla, after seeing it mentioned on the Substack, Seester Seester. The photo included a shot of a bagel piled with winter citrus, and it reminded me of a delicious citrus and ricotta salad I had a few weeks ago. Rather than have my usual salad, I ran to the store to grab ingredients to recreate it at home and ate it outside. Here’s the (very simple) recipe that makes me think of Samin Nosrat’s cookbook, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. Every bite has all four components: salt from the finishing salt, fat from the ricotta, acid from the citrus, and heat from the warm bagel and spicy salt. It was so delicious, I made it again the next day.
You will need:
A fresh bagel (I used an “Everything” bagel from Spielman in Portland)
Winter citrus (I used a mix a blood orange, grapefruit, and navel orange, for a mix of sweet and bitter)
Ricotta (I used whole fat)
Sprig of mint
Good-quality EVOO
1 tablespoon roasted, salted pistachios, roughly chopped
Finishing salt, like Maldon
Tajin (optional)
How to make it:
Slice your bagel and place both halves in the toaster, set to lightly toast.
As they toast, remove the rind and pith from your citrus. Cut each end off, then slice the edges of the peel off, being careful to take as little fruit as possible as you work your way around. Slide the fruit in roughly quarter-inch slices. You’ll need a about four slices per bagel half.
Remove the bagel when it’s golden-brown, and slather it with enough ricotta to cover it, as you would cream cheese.
Add your citrus slices, then julienne and add a few mint leaves on top. Drizzle it with a bit of olive oil, add the pistachios and finishing salt. It’s also great with a slightly spice salt, like Tajin or Trader Joe’s Chile Lime salt!
Eat while it’s still warm—enjoy!
