Zucchini Cornbread With Olive Oil-Whipped Ricotta

Ingredients

• Cornbread
• 6½ tablespoons unsalted butter--melted, cooled and divided
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 large zucchini, coarsely grated (about 2¼ cups)
• Ricotta
• 1 cup whole-milk ricotta
• 1½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
• Flaky sea salt

Directions

1. Make the cornbread: Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 9-inch-by-5-inch loaf pan with ½ tablespoon of butter and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 6 tablespoons melted butter with the eggs and buttermilk. Add the flour mixture into the buttermilk-egg mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in the zucchini and pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until the bread is golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes before running a paring knife around the edges and inverting the cornbread onto a cooling rack. Flip the loaf top-side up and set aside to cool completely, about 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, make the ricotta: In a medium bowl, whisk the ricotta while gradually adding the olive oil until the ricotta is light and fluffy. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve slices of the cooled cornbread with whipped ricotta and a drizzle of olive oil.