When I made these Marjoram Pea Pesto Crostini with Fresh Ricotta the other day, I thought I was being so creative. The Marjoram Pea Pesto is a healthy spin on traditional pesto with updated flavor combinations. The Homemade Instant Pot Ricotta Cheese is pretty standard, except it takes advantage of my Instant Pot, making preparation and cleanup speedy.

However, when I checked online to decide what to name these crostini, the first link that came up was Giada’s Pea Pesto Crostini! Whoops! So much for being unique. I’ll take it as a confirmation that my creative endeavors seem to resonate with others–some pretty famous others.

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Growing up, pesto was my favorite sauce. I asked for pesto on everything: pasta, bread, a spoon…

This week, my childhood desire for pesto returned. After rooting around my kitchen, I realized I had none of the essentials: fresh basil, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts.

Though as someone who enjoys a good challenge, a few missing ingredients were not going to stop me and I decided to make a few substitutions. The end result was a delicious, Marjoram Pea Pesto! It also happened to only take 5 minutes and be vegan.

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I’ve been dreaming of making cheese for years, but I’ve never felt ready to dive in until recently. After sharing my cheese-making dream with a friend, she mentioned that she often makes ricotta and it takes her no time at all. That small reassurance did just the trick. A few days later, I bit the bullet and made my first batch of cheese, ricotta cheese!

What surprised me the most was how easy fresh, homemade ricotta cheese is to make! In 20 minutes, I had a bowl full of fluffy, white ricotta cheese. I was so excited that I couldn’t even wait for the cheese to cool and kept shoveling spoonfuls into my mouth. Yes, it was quite the sight.

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