This recipe comes from The Philosopher’s Kitchen: Recipes from Ancient Greece and Rome for the Modern Cook. Author Francine Segan is part cookbook author, part historian. In this book she offer a bounty of ancient recipes. Some are really ancient, translated from Greek and Roman texts. And some are “newly” ancient, Francine’s inspired contemporary recipes based on concepts espoused in those texts. Some words from Cato in the second century B.C. inspired these biscuits.
If you say “cheese,” Suzen and I will respond with a raised head. Say “biscuit” and I’ll respond with smacking lips. Then I’ll probably plead with Suzi to please, please make this for me.
I was able to plead loud enough, long enough, for her to relent here. Although, I think she was intrigued by the idea here anyway. This is a biscuit, but one made with a lot of ricotta cheese. I’m used to biscuit recipes made with milk, buttermilk, or sour cream. What would happen when we used ricotta?
These are amazing biscuits. The first biscuit I ever ate where I was not reaching for butter, jam or honey. You don’t need anything on these gems. The flavor is cheesy but not over the top. The biscuits are puffy, soft and tender to the bite that seems to last deliciously long as you penetrate a sublime dough.
These are lovely, lovely biscuits. The perfect side dish to pair off with a main course of fish or chicken. These are dinner treats, not breakfast biscuits. For breakfast you need a platform for strawberry jam. For dinner, just pure cheese flavor.
If you make these, you’ll enjoy them and be very surprised at the impact ricotta can have on a “biscuit” recipe. You can make a dozen of these in minutes. It's a quick treat to delight anyone at your dining table.
For a review of The Philosopher's Kitchen, please follow this link.
Cheese Biscuits with Aromatic Bay Leaves
Yield: one dozen biscuits
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly milled pepper
- 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 dried bay leaf, crumbled
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 875° F. Grease a baking sheet and set aside.
Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Stir the ricotta and the egg into the flour mixture until well combined. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls atop the baking sheet. Top each biscuit with the grated Parmesan and a few flakes of the crumbled bay leaf. Bake until golden, 15 to go minutes. Serve warm.
Source: The Philosopher’s Kitchen by Francine Segan [Random House, 2004]
Photo Information: Canon T2i, EFS 60 mm Macro Lens, F/4.5 for 1/40th second at ISO‑800