Gratin de Saumon

[gertie]

Got a new recipe from my friend in Lille.

2 courgettes (zucchini)
2 pommes de terre (potatoes)
1 oignon rouge émincé (red onion, chopped)
3 pavés de saumon (Salmon)
1 cs d'huile d'olive (Olive Oil)
1 cs de persil ciselé (Parsley)
1 cs de ciboulette ciselée (Chives)
4 oeufs (Eggs)
125g de ricotta (Ricotta Cheese)
Sel de Guérande (A type of salt, I just used sea salt)
Poivre du moulin aux 5 baies (Pepper ground with Bay Leaf)
1 cc de curcuma (Tumeric)
50g de parmesan (Parmesan)

Medium dice the potatoes and zucchini.
Place the finely diced red onion in skillet with olivie oil.
Add the zucchini, potatoes, pepper, and tumeric.
Cook about ten minutes, stirring occasionally, then leave to cool.
Preheat oven to 180 C (about 350 F)
In a bowl, combine herbs, eggs, and ricotta.
Add the cooled, cooked veggies.
Remove the skin and dice the salmon large.
Divide into four small casseroles, layering salmon and ricotta mixture.
End with ricotta mixture, sprinkle with parmesan, and bake 20 minutes.

This really hit the spot on a cold evening. I interpreted the pepper and five bays to mean the two ground together, if someone knows otherwise, let me know as my girlfriend is away for a couple of days so I can't ask her. It seemed to work fine, and the little casseroles were very tasty. We have only three in the house, so husband and daughter fought over the fourth.

[GitteK]

Great recipe, thanks !! My son is not a big fish eater - so this will do just nicely. We both love gratins. What could I add instead of ricotta (that's cottage cheese, right ? HATE that ....) Crème fraîche ?

[Shoesy]

Ricotta isn't cottage cheese, Gitte.

[GitteK]

Then what is it........ cream cheese ? fromage frais / blanc ?

[Shoesy]

It's the one that says "Ricotta" on the package.

[Laura NY (aoi33)]

Very cute, Shoesy!

Gitte, ricotta is easy to make yourself. The recipe will work best with fresh milk, but anything other than ultra pasteurized will do:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2UvbJjyRw8

[sunshine817]

drives me bonkers when people insist on substituting cottage cheese for ricotta...if you absolutely couldn't find ricotta, it would do in a pinch, but it's a little like adding grape juice when the recipe calls for bordeaux. ugh.

[gertie]

Well, actually, ricotta and cottage cheese are what you might call the same family. The cheese maker separates the curds, salts them and adds cream or milk, and that's cottage cheese. The whey becomes ricotta through a slightly more involved process. This is why they taste very similar, but have very different textures. They are two parts of the same whole. Cottage cheese is often drained and blended as a substitute for ricotta because ricotta has about double the calories of low fat cottage cheese.

Laura, The video purports to be the making of ricotta, but my uncle was a cheese maker for many years in Ohio, and he says the lady is incorrect. What she is making there most closely resembles Indian Paneer. I have made my own paneer for Indian recipes for years, and I for one am glad you made the suggestion, as I think it would be lovely in this recipe, even if it isn't really ricotta, so I want to say thank you.

Gitte, if the texture is the reason you don't like cottage cheese, you might try some real ricotta, which is less clumpy and finer grained, but it is still grainier than say cream cheese. You might try substituting cream cheese if you know you prefer it, it would certainly be creamier. Any creamy cheese with a mild flavor you like would do fine.