Whipped Ricotta with Citrus Marinated Olives
on Nov 04, 2022, Updated Jul 29, 2024
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This special whipped ricotta with citrus marinated olives recipe is absolutely out of bounds! Serve together in a bowl, or serve separate as two different recipes. It is a wonderful appetizer or side for any occasion.
You can serve this with any of your favorite salads, main dishes like chicken or just as an appetizer at a party served with some other appetizers. This won’t disappoint!
What ingredients do you need for this marinated olives recipe?
Ricotta cheese: I absolutely love a creamy and whipped ricotta for this! It’s also SO easy to come together. All you will do is blend ricotta, lemon juice and zest with olive oil, salt and pepper.
- If you’re looking for a whipped feta cheese (feta dip) version, this whipped feta is my favorite! here are some thought starters
- If you don’t like ricotta, you can sub with other cheeses like goat cheese, fresh mozzarella and burrata, to name a few.
For your olives: We are using a mix of castelventrano and kalamata (my two favorites!) then it’s infused with some spices, olive oil, orange, lemon and vinegar. Any vinegar will do like red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar.
Chili flakes or fresno, red long peppers: For some heat!
Your favorite fresh herbs and spices for the marinade: like oregano, fennel seeds, fresh rosemary, garlic, fresh thyme, red pepper flakes, parsley, basil and thinly sliced shallots to name a few. But you can totally use anything you have on hand and that you love.
Olive oil, black pepper and salt
Instructions to make this recipe
Make your whipped ricotta
In a food processor, blender or stand mixer, blend and whip ricotta, lemon zest, lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and set aside in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Make your mixture for the olives
In a saucepan, add in olive oil with thinly sliced red chili (or chili flakes), a few sprigs of rosemary, garlic, thinly sliced citrus (we are using lemon and orange) salt and pepper.
Steep this on medium to low (you don’t want it to boil), until it is infused all together about 5 minutes. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes.
Marinate your olives
In a bowl or airtight container, add in your assorted olives and pour over your steeped oil mixture. Mix well to combine. Finish with a dash of vinegar and lemon juice from the lemon you used to peel for the oil mixture. Store covered in your bowl to marinate in the fridge for up to 30 minutes to overnight.
Serve
When ready to serve, spoon and layer on your whipped ricotta in a bowl, and then add your marinated olives on top of it (or you can serve separate). Finish with flakey salt and pepper.
Tips, Tricks and Substitutions
What should I serve this recipe with? Recipes like our caesar salad would be amazing served with this! You can also take a look at all our other appetizers to serve with this, too.
How long can the marinated olives sit in the fridge? Save your marinated olives in a tight closed container or jar in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.
Can I serve these recipes separate? Yes, you can opt to do 1 bowl of ricotta, and 1 bowl of the others and let people nosh as they eat. I also think it can look impressive serving a dollop of ricotta with the olives inside on the plate as well (like what’s pictured here!)
Check out the below appetizer recipes for more inspiration!
- Roasted Olives with Feta, Garlic & Citrus (If you’re looking for a recipe similar to roast in the oven!)
- Crispy Potatoes Topped with Salmon Roe
- Butternut Squash Butter
- Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Herbed Feta Dip
- Tuna Crudo with Citrus Caper Vinaigrette
If you do make this Whipped Ricotta with Citrus Marinated Olives recipe (first of all, thank you!!), be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and through social media so I can be sure to see what you’re making! If you’d like to stay in touch and get the latest to your inbox, sign up for our Newsletter here as well!
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Whipped Ricotta with Citrus Marinated Olives
Ingredients
For the spicy citrus marinated olives:
- 1 cup pitted castelvetrano olives, drained, rinsed
- 1 cup pitted kalamata olives, drained, rinsed
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Peel of 1 orange, thinly sliced vertically
- 1 lemon, Peel of 1 lemon, thinly sliced vertically and juice of the same lemon
- 1 fresno chili, long red chili or about
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 large sprigs of rosemary
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar, or vinegar of choice
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the whipped ricotta:
- 15 ounce ricotta
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, adjust with more oil if needed to whip further
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make your whipped ricotta. In a food processor, blender or stand mixer, blend and whip ricotta, lemon zest, lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and set aside in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Make your mixture for the olives. In a saucepan, add in olive oil with thinly sliced red chili (or chili flakes), a few sprigs of rosemary, garlic, thinly sliced citrus (we are using lemon and orange) salt and pepper.
- Steep this on medium to low (you don’t want it to boil), until it is infused all together about 5 minutes. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Marinate your olives. In a bowl or airtight container, add in your assorted olives and pour over your steeped oil mixture. Mix well to combine. Finish with a dash of vinegar and lemon juice from the lemon you used to peel for the oil mixture. Store covered to marinate in the fridge for up to 30 minutes to overnight.
- Serve. When ready to serve, spoon and layer on your whipped ricotta in a bowl, and then add your marinated olives on top of it (or you can serve separately). Finish with flakey salt and pepper.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Lindsey, Your recipe for Whipped Ricotta w/ Citrus Marinated Olives mentioned the inclusion of olive oil twice; once for the Ricotta and secondly for the olives. But, your recipe only gives one amount of olive oil (under the Ricotta section) and does not state any amount of olive oil for the olives. Would you kindly clarify how much olive oil is needed to infuse the red chili and aromatics and is the 1/2 cup of olive oil mentioned under Whipped Ricotta the correct amount? Thank you.
Thank you for letting us know! We’ve updated to reflect the olive oil for the olives (2 tablespoons!) and yes to 1/2 cup for the ricotta!