Baked tamarillos with ricotta and honey

Tamarillos have a short growing season peaking July/August so get in quick and make the most of them.

Serves 4-6

8 large tamarillos

4 Tbsp runny honey

25g butter

½ vanilla bean, split to release seeds and cut

into 2-3 pieces

4 Tbsp water

4 Tbsp cream (double cream is good here) Good quality ricotta and extra runny honey, to

serve

1

Heat the oven to 160C. Choose a nonmetallic ovenproof dish in which the tamarillos fit well with no extra space. Butter the dish well. 2 3 4 5 Place the tamarillos in a large heatproof bowl and pour over boiling water to cover. Leave to stand until the skins will come away easily, up to 5 minutes. Drain then peel the skin off each tamarillo. Remove the core and cut in half lengthwise.

Place the tamarillo halves in the dish, cut side uppermost. Drizzle over the honey and dot with butter. Place vanilla bean pieces in the dish, then pour in the water. Cover the dish tightly with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 45-60 minutes.

Remove from the oven, remove foil and spoon over the cream. Return tamarillos to the oven, uncovered, for a further 5-10 minutes to allow the cream to melt into the cooking juices.

Serve baked tamarillos with a small bowl of good quality ricotta and a small dish of runny honey.