I know you will relate to this scenario. The recipe calls for 1 cup of an ingredient and you end up with an open tub of ricotta that you will stick in the back of your fridge and forget about until one day when you have nothing better to do than clean the fridge, then you find a tub of cheese, open it and it reminds you of a science experiment gone awry. (My God that sentence was way too long).

So as to avoid having to throw out this ricotta, the day I made a savoury recipe, I decided to make a sweet one for two reasons:

1) I had plums 2) I had the cheese

So ya. That’s about it.

Wait. No…..

I have another reason. I forgot about the open box of puff pastry that was hanging around.

Now let’s talk about slicing things. If my husband is around, he offers to slice stuff for me. Why? Because he “claims” that I “butcher” everything. Not true Steve, not true. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I have sliced a tomato and he says “what did you do that”!!?

I have some of the best knives in town thanks to the folks at Zwilling J.A. Henckels. I mean, the best. They are so darn sharp they actually scare me a little. The thing is, I need cutting lessons. Yes, cutting LESSONS.

Recently, I was invited to the grand opening of their new store, which is conveniently located 10 minutes from my office. I’ve never seen so much knife wielding in my life. It’s super cool to watch “REAL CHEFS” handle their cutting weapons. Did I learn anything? Well, yes. The best way to ensure you don’t slice your fingers off is to ask Steve to cut something for you.

So what did we get to do at this event? EAT AND MEET.  My two favourite things in the world to do.

Here I am with the President of Zwilling J.A Henckels Canada – Mrinal Sharma, who is charming, knows his knives and is very tall.

I was also really excited to  meet Niside Aloi, who is the public relations and media manager for Zwilling J.A Henckels Canada, a lovely, talented and beautiful young lady whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the past year.

Oh, and they let me hold a big knife (in a virtual kitchen).

We sampled tastings from Chef Romain Avril, who is the executive chef at Toronto’s newest hotspot, Lavelle.

His food was totally amazing and beautifully presented in an array of Staub cookware.

An event is never an event without me stuffing my face with sweets, so here ya go. I didn’t realize that those little bombéwouldn’t really fit inside my mouth in one fell swoop. Okay, so I’m not very socially acceptable sometimes, but I try.

[embed width="530" height="456"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTp5186bkXw[/embed]

So what was I saying?

Oh ya, this tart. A perfect match for a Zwilling knife. Sharp and beautiful.

Thank you Zwilling for hosting me and my editor Eve at this event! (she got to hold a big knife too)

RED PLUM, LEMON AND RICOTTA TART -2/3 cup smooth ricotta cheese -2 tablespoons organic honey -zest of 1 lemon -1 sheet puff pastry, thawed -3 large red plums or any other stone fruit, halved seeded and thinly sliced -powdered sugar for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS 1) Preheat oven to 400˚F. 2) Place ricotta, honey and lemon zest into a mixing bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. 3) Place puff pastry into a tart pan spread honey/ricotta mixture over the top in an even layer.

4) Top with rows of thinly sliced plums, until the surface is covered.

5) Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until puff pastry turns golden brown and puffs around the edges.

6) Allow tart to cool, 15 to 20 minutes before dusting with powdered sugar, slicing and serving.

See you next week!

debi @simplybeautifuleatingsimplybeautifuleating.com