Sweet ricotta recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my ricotta sweet? ›

After fermentation, the whey is cooked to almost boiling; afterward, the residual proteins solidify into curds, which are then filtered through a cloth. The result is a product with a consistency similar to cottage cheese, but with a sweet taste.

Ricotta salata is also a perfect accompaniment to meat-based pasta sauces, fresh salads, and roasted vegetables; even though the outside looks hard, the inside is still creamy enough to mix very well with warm dishes. It's saltier and nuttier than Pecorino and Parmigiano Reggiano, so use in moderation.

You can add flavor to plain ricotta cheese by mixing in ingredients like herbs (such as basil, thyme, or rosemary), garlic, lemon zest, black pepper, or a drizzle of honey for a sweet twist. Incorporating roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, or chopped fresh fruits can also add both flavor and texture.

For extra creamy ricotta, add in an extra egg, a handful of grated parmesan, and a quarter cup of shredded mozzarella. Eggs help prevent the ricotta from drying out and serve to bind the ricotta so it doesn't become runny. One or more eggs are recommended whether you add the other ingredients mentioned here or not.

Cannoli (singular cannolo) literally translates from Italian to “l*ttle tubes.” Cannoli are hand-formed, crispy little pastry tubes filled with a decadent ricotta filling. Marsala wine added to the pastry dough creates the perfect texture, and when fried, you end up with golden, flaky, slightly sweet cannoli shells.

This is true ricotta—creamy, white, and slightly sweet. Today, ricotta is made from cow's milk and sadly, many producers use low-grade milk and shorten the fermentation process by acidifying the milk and stabilizing the end product with carrageenan and guar gum.

What Does Ricotta Cheese Taste Like? Most ricotta cheese is milky and mild-tasting, with a soft and grainy texture. Another variation, called ricotta salata, is very salty and crumbly, similar to feta cheese.

In the United States, American ricotta is almost always made of cow's milk whey, as opposed to Italian ricotta which is typically made from the whey of sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk.

Sicilian ricotta is produced fresh from the whey left from making pecorino cheese. With the addition of a small amount of fresh milk, the new liquid is reboiled and thus the word ricotta. This first production is eaten fresh and I mean fresh straight from the boiler.

You can smear ricotta on toast and then top it with almost anything for an easy meal. Try it with corn and scallions, or pesto and tomatoes, or a fried egg. You can also eat it for dessert: top with strawberries and honey or banana and nutella. Get the recipes here.

Should I add an egg to my ricotta cheese? ›

Adding egg to ricotta cheese helps to bind the cheese for lasagna so that it doesn't ooze out of the casserole when you cut it. Basically, the egg helps all the cheesy goodness stay intact. So what happens if you don't put eggs in your lasagna? It'll just be a bit runnier, but omitting the egg won't affect the taste.

If you really can't find any mascarpone around, you can probably blend ricotta or another low salt cottage cheese with some cream, milk or butter to make it creamy and more spreadable.

The liquid whey left over from making ricotta is really healthy. Cover and refrigerate it to use in breads, soups, and smoothies instead of milk or water. You can also use it instead of water when cooking pasta or rice. Or, if you're really adventurous, try drinking it plain (you'll make your great-grandma proud).

Stored properly, fresh ricotta will last in the freezer for one to three months. Once you thaw your cheese, it is not recommended to refreeze it. Since freezing it just once already causes the cheese to degrade somewhat, you can imagine what constant thawing and refreezing would do.

But it will work as an effective, low-fat substitute for cream cheese with a bit of manipulation. Simply blend the ricotta in a blender or food processor until smooth, add a bit of lemon juice to mimic the tang of cream cheese, and use in any baking or cooking project.

The key distinction between the two really comes down to moisture content and texture: ricotta is smooth and spreadable with extremely fine (almost imperceptible) curds, whereas the preparation of cottage cheese results in a soupy and lumpy finished product with a higher moisture content.

Made with cream cheese, ricotta cheese, and a ground almond crust, the cake is a hybrid between an American-style cheesecake and an Italian-style cheesecake. The fruit topping is my addition; the tart sweetness of the jam and fresh raspberries is the perfect contrast to the cake, which isn't overly sweet.