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Summer tomatoes & ricotta on sourdough

Summer tomatoes & ricotta on sourdough

Straight from the kitchen of Crispin's head chef, Lewis De Haas: here we have something simple, fresh, vibrant, indulgent. Now's the time for sunny tomatoes over ricotta on sourdough—topped with fresh herbs and extra virgin olive oil to really make it shine.

This recipe is completely dictated by getting your hands on seasonal ingredients when they are at their most delicious. Don't be making this in winter, y'all!

Lewis makes the sort of ingredients-led, colourful meals we all need more of. Like us, he's passionate about championing small producers to get flavour at its absolute best.

We've been drooling over the way he's been using our oil, so when he offered to share a recipe we could all do at home—we knew it would be a banger...🔥

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

Serves 4

4 x slices sourdough bread
500g heirloom tomatoes
200g ricotta
150ml Citizens of Soil Greek extra virgin olive oil
1 x clove garlic
Sea salt
Pepper
Handful of fresh mint

Here's the method:

Season tomatoes with salt and pepper then roast on a high heat (~200°C) until the skins pop and blister.
Place tomatoes in a bowl and pour over the olive oil.
Crush the tomatoes so all the flavour and juices mix with the olive oil.
Toast the slices of sourdough until golden brown.
Rub each toasted sourdough slice with a whole peeled clove of garlic.
Season the ricotta with salt and pepper to taste then place a spoonful onto each sourdough slice.
Top with the tomatoes, plenty of the oil from the base of the mixing bowl.
Fresh mint leaves to garnish.

Ways to make it more your own:

Swap out your herbs (basil for mint seems like an obvious one).
Spread on some nduja and make it a meal.
For an English alternative to cheese, you can use Westcombe ricotta as a great alternative to the common Sardinian one.

Do yourself a FLAVOUR favour and go check out Chef Lewis in action over at Crispin in Shoreditch. They also have an olive oil martini that's wickedly delicious, featuring our Greek oil.

Are you making this? Share with your fellow citizens. Tag us in your photos on Instagram at @CitizensofSoil.

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FAQs about olive oil brands and quality

They certainly can be! But it’s always important to consider why they’re expensive. If the higher price reflects early harvest olives, small-batch production, regenerative farming, and fair wages for farmers, then yes – you're likely getting a high-quality product that’s better for your health, the environment, and the industry. But sometimes, the price tag just reflects good branding and fancy packaging. Always look for real indicators of quality like harvest date, origin transparency, proper packaging, and clear production practices to know if it’s truly worth the splurge.
The best way to tell if you have a bottle of real extra virgin olive oil—and not just labeled that way—is to look for transparency and pay close attention to the details. Quality EVOO will list a harvest date (not just an expiration date), come in a dark glass or tin container, and specify the origin. Avoid vague blends and flashy marketing claims without substance. And most importantly, taste it: legitimate extra virgin olive oil should be fruity, bitter and peppery—not flat or greasy. Your palate is often the best judge
One of the biggest culprits is the term ‘first cold pressed’, which might sound impressive but doesn't define the modern extra virgin olive oil making process or the product's quality. Also look for the harvest date. If you only see an expiration or “best before”, it's more likely the olive oil quality isn't as good. Also pay attention to vague origins like ‘EU blend’. While this might sound romantic, it's a strong indicator that olive oil quality is not top notch. Long story short: true quality comes from transparency, not trendy marketing, so always look beyond branding.