Baked Fruit with Ricotta

Happy Friday!  Today's recipe comes from my favorite cookbook, Feel Good Food.  I've shared recipes from this cookbook before, but there are so many good recipes from this cookbook worth sharing!  This cookbook remains my most frequently used cookbook because of the creative recipes that are healthier but still elegant.  Today's recipe would be a great breakfast for the week end!

Baked fruit with ricotta is a different take on the boring bowl of fruit for breakfast.  An assortment of different fruit is tossed with apple cider, maple syrup, ground cinnamon, and allspice and baked.  After baking, it is topped with some ricotta cheese, which adds some lush creaminess to the dish.  This could also even make a great summer dessert--especially with some Honeycrisp Apples and Colorado Palisade Peaches.  Mmmm.

Berries, apricots, and nectarines also make great substitutes for the pineapple and peaches.  You can also use frozen fruit, and there is no need to defrost it.  If you don't have ricotta cheese, you could also substitute a creamy yogurt, too.

Enjoy this breakfast.

Baked Fruit with Ricotta
Yields 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
2 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2" chunks
2 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2" chunks
1 cup pineapple chunks (frozen is okay to use!)
1 cup peach chunks (frozen is okay to use!)
1 tbsp. boiled cider extract or 1/4 cup apple cider
2 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. ricotta cheese

Directions:
Position oven rack to the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 350ºF.  Spray a 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray or grease with butter.  Add the fruit to the dish.  Pour the cider extract/cider and the maple syrup over the fruit, and then sprinkle the spices evenly over the top.  Toss the fruit to coat.

Bake for 25 minutes, and remove from oven to stir the fruit.  Return to oven and bake for about 25 minutes more.  When finished, allow the fruit to cool for about 5 minutes.  Then, scoop the fruit into bowls and top each bowl with 3-4 tablespoons of the ricotta cheese.

Source: Giada De Laurentiis' Feel Good Food