Last week, I realized just how spoiled I’ve been.
For the last month and a half, we’ve put Theo to bed around 8:00 PM and he usually hasn’t woken up until 5:00AM-ish. A couple times he’s slept until 7:00AM. We’ve gotten pretty cozy sleeping through the night.
Then, last Monday, I heard peeps from his nursery at midnight. Since the kid can sleep through the night, I knew pretty damn well that he wasn’t hungry, and when I walked into his room, he was smiling at me and obviously wanted to play. At midnight. On Monday. We didn’t get him back to sleep until 2:30AM, and then he woke up again at 4:30AM wide-eyed and squirmy.
I felt really bad for myself on Tuesday and then I realized I’m behaving, ironically, like a baby. Am I really this dysfunctional from one night of poor sleep? Yes. Yes I am. I know so many parents whose kids wake up every hour far into their first year, and when my not-quite-three-month-old does it once, I act like the world is coming to an end.
What does one make for dinner when the world is coming to an end? Baked ricotta and peas, apparently. When I’m feeling a lack of creativity, I go to one of my favorite cookbooks, Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Literacy, and I basically do as I’m told.
Because literally everything in her book tastes amazing, I can guarantee that this will lift my spirits.
The next night Theo slept until 5:00AM and then went back to sleep until 7:30AM after I fed him. Thanks, kid. I can’t wait until you read this in 18 years and realize what trauma you caused me.
- Olive oil
- 1 cup full-fat ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoons butter
- 1 small yellow onion, sliced thin
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 5 sage leaves, minced
- 1 cup fresh peas
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Parmesan cheese, as garnish
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Lightly oil the bottom of a small baking dish (I used a 6 inch by 6 inch, a little smaller is fine too).
- If ricotta is wet and milky, use a cheesecloth to drain out excess liquid. Spread ricotta thinly onto the bottom of your baking dish, top with a little olive oil, and bake until cheese has begun to set and is brown on top. This may range anywhere from 20-40 minutes, depending on how wet your cheese is to start with.
- When ricotta starts to brown, top with breadcrumbs and bake for an additional 10 minutes, until breadcrumbs are nice and toasty.
- Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion, garlic, and sage and cook until softened, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in peas, ½ cup of water, and lemon zest. Simmer until peas are a bright green color and liquid has reduced some, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- When ricotta is done baking, top with peas and sauce. Sprinkle Parmesan on top as garnish.
Recipe slightly adapted from Vegetable Literacy.
Ha!!! My 2.5 year old woke me up last night at 4:30 and I could not get her back to bed until 6am at which it was time for me to get up :( I feel your pain sister! But it’s pretty amazing what we can pull off completely sleep deprived (i managed for her first year somehow). Baked ricotta?!? This sounds awesome! I am going to give this a try!!!
writes Girl and the KitchenBabies and sleeping! I wish there was a foolproof solution. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll all survive :).
writes Vicky[…] Baked Ricotta with Peas | Things I Made Today […]
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writes Highs and Lows | Dancing VeggiesJust came across this on Honest Cooking. This is such a unique recipe – love it! I would never think to bake ricotta like this :)
I also love all the colors in these photos. Yellow, pink, green… so springlike :)
writes Alexandra