In the winter, I like to do two things: Eat food that’s the equivalent of sitting in front of a warm fire with a blanket wrapped around me, OR eat food that makes me believe that I’m on a beach. This toast accomplishes both those goals.

I toasted a couple pieces of multigrain bread from Companion Bakery, spread on some whipped ricotta, and topped the toast with roasted pineapple and some mint leaves. The sweet, juicy pineapple paired well with the ricotta, which is basically the cheese equivalent of a cloud. The mint added some flavor and complemented the pineapple.

You could probably just spread ricotta on this toast, but I’d advocate for whipping it in a food processor. You scoop some into the processor and pulse it a few times until it starts looking more like icing than cheese. Then you can spread it on your slices of toast. It’s even lighter this way.

As for roasting pineapple…it’s actually much easier than you’d think. You take pineapple chunks and drizzle honey on top, and then let them sit in the oven for a few minutes. Right before they’re done, you can turn on the broiler to try to get them even more caramelized on the outside. But if you do this be careful because broiling is an art. You need to watch the pineapple constantly so it doesn’t catch on fire.

ANYWAY. I’d highly recommend making this toast as soon as possible. For anyone who is sick of winter weather and wishes they were on a beach in Hawaii, this toast is practically mandatory.

Here’s a song to play while you’re waiting for the pineapple to roast, or, you know, whenever.

Roasted Pineapple Ricotta Toast

Ingredients

2 slices of bread, toasted
1 cup chopped pineapple
2 Tbsp honey (or maple syrup or agave)
1/4 cup part-skim ricotta
pinch of sea salt
handful of fresh mint leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the pineapple on the baking sheet and drizzle with honey. Place in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the pineapple is starting to get brown on the outsides. If you’d like, you can turn the broiler on high and roast the pineapple for a minute more, but make sure to keep an eye on things so it doesn’t burn.

In the meantime, make the whipped ricotta. Place the ricotta in a food processor with the sea salt and pulse a few times until the ricotta is whipped and light, like icing.

Spread the ricotta on your slices of toast and top with pineapple and fresh mint leaves. Enjoy!