20+ Delicious Ricotta recipes (2024)

FAQs

What to do with a lot of ricotta? ›

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.

One key detail to keep in mind is whether the package of ricotta cheese has been opened or not. Unopened ricotta will last about two weeks in the fridge, while opened ricotta will last just a week. As for the freezer, you can store ricotta for up to three months.

If you have an unopened container of ricotta, you can stick the whole thing right in the freezer, but if the package has been opened, you have to transfer the cheese to a new container. Use a clean, airtight container or freezer bag to prevent freezer burn and bacterial contamination.

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.

Ricotta lovers will be happy to know that ricotta cheese is a healthy food and belongs to the dairy food group. It can be enjoyed every day as part of a balanced diet.

Ricotta is a mild Italian cheese that's classically paired with pasta, spinach, and tomatoes for a heavenly flavor combination. It's soft enough to spread and works like a charm for stuffing ravioli, manicotti, or jumbo shells.

It's commonly used in savoury dishes such as lasagne, stuffed shells, and other Italian dishes, but it can also be used in sweet recipes like cheesecake and cannoli. Whether it's used on a breakfast dish like on toast topped with fruit and honey, or for dinner served in a calzone, ricotta can be enjoyed in many ways.

The real difference between ricotta and cottage cheese is fourfold: ingredients, texture, taste, and best uses in recipes—so pretty much everything. They do look similar, though, don't they? And they're both pretty mild-mannered. But you can't always substitute one for the other.

Mold on ricotta can be green, blue, or soft pink. If the ricotta has also turned a yellowish color (instead of its regular creamy white), it's another sign of spoilage. You can also apply the sniff test to ricotta. Ricotta that's fine to eat will either have no odor at all, or it might have a regular milky smell.

Can I use expired ricotta cheese? ›

Ricotta cheese, like cottage cheese and cream cheese, is high in moisture and spoils more quickly than hard cheeses. Use it promptly because it only stays fresh for a week or two. If the cheese doesn't look or smell like it did when you first opened it, your best course of action is to throw it out.

Ricotta is smooth and slightly sweet from the heavy cream and you can even eat it when it's still warm. I love to mix olive oil, salt and pepper into it, then smear it across toast. It's also great mixed into hot pasta, layered onto lasagna, or turned into a dip for raw vegetables like radishes and carrots.

Ricotta is about 74% water, and when that water transforms into ice, it disrupts the cheese's texture and makes it dry, crumbly, and slightly grainy.

Make classic Italian American bakery-style ricotta cookies or cannoli dip with waffle crisps for dessert. Or go the savory route! Smear ricotta on toast and top it with braised butternut squash for a satisfying lunch, or make some tender homemade ricotta gnocchi for dinner.

If your recipe is uncooked, or specifically calls for fresh ricotta cheese, it's best to not use previously frozen.

Ideally, store the cheese in the back of your freezer, where the temperature is the lowest. The door of your freezer is a bit warmer and can fluctuate in temperature whenever you open and close it. Stored properly, fresh ricotta will last in the freezer for one to three months.

Yes. Pastry chef here... I defrost the ricotta in its container , then you need to put the ricotta in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze the liquid out over the sink, before you use the ricotta in the recipe.

To be on the safe side, give it the sniff test. If there is any off odor, toss it. Additionally, if there are any black spots, it's got to go. Other signs of spoilage include any discoloration, excess liquid, and texture issues (graininess, lumpiness).

In other words, the cheese doesn't melt. So ricotta falls in the same category as paneer, halloumi, queso blanco and other cheeses that can be heated without melting. This is why ricotta is such a fine choice for lasagna, stuffed shells, ravioli and cheesecake. It heats wonderfully, but doesn't reduce to a pool of goo.