Strained ricotta with blackcurrant compote and rhubarb

You’ll need to get the ricotta mix hanging 2 days before you want to serve this. Beyond having to think ahead, though, there’s actually very little to do here and the result is wonderfully rewarding. The curled rhubarb – deceptively simple to do, given how composed and ‘restaurant-like’ it looks – is particularly impressive. If you can’t get blackcurrants, then blackberries, raspberries, plums or juicy ripe strawberries also work.

Ingredients

Procedure

  1. Two days before serving, place the ricotta, crème fraîche and vanilla seeds in a medium bowl and mix, by hand, until smooth. Add a pinch of salt and set aside.
  2. Place the egg whites in a separate bowl and whisk until stiff. Add 100g of the sugar and continue to whisk until combined and the peaks are stiff and glossy. Gently fold the egg whites into the cream mix, then transfer to the middle of a clean piece of muslin or J-cloth. Draw up the sides to form a ball, tie together with string, and hang it in the fridge overnight, for the liquid to drip out. Slotting a chopstick through the string and placing it horizontally over a container which is deep enough to let the ball hang free is a good way of catching and containing the liquid which gets released.
  3. After 12–24 hours, divide the mixture into 4 balls – they should weigh about 75g each – and place each one in a separate clean piece of muslin or J-cloth. Twist them tightly, tie with string and hang, as before, with the help of a chopstick held over a container which is deep enough for them to hang free. You can hang all 4 balls on one chopstick, to save space. Leave in the fridge overnight, twisting them for a final time and wiping the balls dry before they are removed from the cloth.
  4. Fill a small bowl of water with ice and set aside. Using a vegetable peeler, peel thin strips of rhubarb, lengthways. Cut each long strip, widthways, into 10cm long pieces and then transfer the strips straight into the iced water. Sit the bowl in the fridge for at least an hour, for the rhubarb to curl. Strain and dry just before serving.
  5. To make the compote, place the blackcurrants in a small pan with the remaining 40g of sugar and 1½ tablespoons of water. Bring to the boil on a medium heat, stirring gently so that the sugar dissolves, then remove immediately. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes, then keep in the fridge until required.
  6. To serve, place a ball of ricotta in the middle of each plate and spoon some blackcurrant compote on top. Place the rhubarb strips alongside and serve.