Everyday Epicurean

I had bought some Ricotta cheese on the weekend with the view of doing something interesting with it. However, I was also in need of a fairly quick to prepare, no-fuss dinner tonight as I also had to bake bread (white this week), and I had to work at 10pm (with some prep-time before that). Thus the Bacon and Mushroom Cheesecake was born.

Ingredients.

The filling

• 250 g ricotta cheese
• 300 ml double cream
• salt and pepper
• 3 eggs
• a little flour
• some grated cheese (maybe a handful)

• 4 middle bacon rashers, rind removed
• 8 mushrooms
• butter for frying

The base

I attempted a biscuit base made of home made bread crumbs, but it doesn’t quite work, in that it needed more binding.

• about 8 to 10 spoons of breadcrumbs
• some flour
• about 50 g of butter, melted

Method.

To make the base, mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Note, this really does need more binding… too tired right now to work out what though.
Press into a deep pie dish.
Pre-bake at 200C for about 10 minutes, remove from the oven and let cool.

Place the ricotta, cream, eggs, salt and pepper in a mixer and combine until smooth. Add the flour and grated cheese and mix some more.

Meanwhile, fry the mushrooms (sliced) and bacon (diced) in a fry pan with the butter.
When done to you liking, remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes before tipping them into the creamy, cheesy filling. Mix well.

Pour the filling into the pie case and place in a 200C oven for 45 minutes. When done, the top should be brown (not burnt) and the centre slightly bouncy to touch (not runny – stick a fork or skewer in it, it should come out clean).

Serve warm or allow to cool.