Tomato, Ricotta and Basil Antipasto
Tomato ricotta and basil antipasto is a twist on a caprese salad. It’s simple, unique and delicious and a great way to use summer tomatoes in a different way.
*Edited on September 30, 2015 to add new photos, but originally published on March 15, 2012.
I am so excited!!! I just came up with this idea tonight after not having bread (wanted to make bruschetta) or mozzarella (Plan B was a Caprese salad!)
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What I did have was ricotta and I had this lovely vision and it looked like this:
This appetizer is so easy! Slice tomatoes, place on a plate, and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Top with a small spoonful (I used a melon-baller) of ricotta. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, then sprinkle with chopped fresh basil, ta dah!
Good ricotta and tomatoes will make all the difference!
I have discovered the best ricotta I’ve had outside of Italy, and it’s made by Grande Cheese Company. It comes in a 3 lb tub, but it lasts quite a long time (over a week once it’s opened.) It makes EVERYTHING taste incredible! I used to buy it surreptitiously at Whole Foods via their kitchen area (not sold to the public)!
The first time I tasted this ricotta was a few years ago when I had a piece of pizza at Whole Foods. It had mozzarella, ricotta and roasted garlic on top. I took one bite of the ricotta on the pizza and walked straight back inside to find out which brand of cheese it was. Yes, it’s that good!
I hope you can find a ricotta that is really like a ricotta should be near you. You could also make it at home, but be forewarned, MOST of the recipes I’ve seen for making ricotta are NOT for ricotta at all. This proves that so many bloggers and even big cooking websites (I told one site their recipe was not actually ricotta, and they didn’t even respond) all copy each other without actually doing research.
I don’t need to research ricotta because my mother made it all the time when I was growing up, and ricotta actually means “cooked again“. You have to make ricotta after you’ve made cheese, or else it’s just cheese!
Tomato Ricotta and Basil Antipasto
Buon Appetito!

Tomato, Ricotta and Basil Antipasto
Special Equipment
- 1 melon baller (optional)
Ingredients
- 2 medium tomatoes (firm, sliced) preferably organic
- ½ c ricotta cheese (top quality)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ⅛ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp basil (chopped)
Instructions
- Arrange the tomato slices on a flat serving plate.
- Top with a small scoop (I used a melon baller) of ricotta, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with the sea salt and chopped basil. Serve.
Notes
- Use fresh, top quality ingredients for the best result.
Nutrition

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What a beautiful presentation. I know what I’m doing with these final weeks of my dad’s garden tomatoes!
Good for you! :)
Never thought about using the ricotta….Looks delish.
I hadn’t either, Wendy, but desperate times call for desperate measures! haha!
Absolute perfection. I love making homemade ricotta and tomatoes are at their peak so guess what I will be making this weekend. Thank you!!!
Remind me to tell you about homemade ricotta! :)
Oh wow! Mouth watering tomatoes and fresh ricotta. I was wondering what else I would do with that much ricotta — I searched your recipes and you have several recipes using ricotta. Now to find the ricotta in my area! I will soon be picking my green tomatoes and packing them in a box with newspaper. They will begin ripening over the next several weeks so I can enjoy your recipe for quite awhile with fresh tomatoes!
Oh yes, I do love ricotta and I do have lots of recipes using it: pancakes, pasta, cheesecake, and cookies, at minimum. Lucky you that you have tomatoes from your garden! Have you ever pickled green tomatoes? One of the best things my mother ever made!
A beautiful classic appetizer. I myself have probably deleted a year’s worth of posts because of my photos, so I completely understand! It’s good to see improvement!
Oh no! Why did you delete them? That’s a lot of work to throw away, Mimi! You can always hide them by making them drafts, then update the photos and bring them back again.
Can’t wait to try this!
When I was first married, 43 years ago in Japan, I wanted to make real spaghetti sauce. The marinara I’d been making my entire life. Problem was, sauce came in 250 g cans. Not enough to make a Sunday sauce. One day we went into an Italian restaurant for dinner and saw, used as decoration, 1K colorful cans of crushed tomatoes. My good-natured husband negotiated a price and I went on a spending spree of reusable containers and filled up my freezer.
What a lovely story, Irene! I love it! Hope you enjoy this, too! :)
What a fabulous twist to the caprese. It’s beautifully presented and I want some! I am in the LA area, I’ll have to look for the Grande ricotta.
Oh you’re going to flip, Lauren!! Let me know what you think after you’ve tasted it!