Ricotta? I hardly knew ya!

December 29, 2017 4:38 PM

I've just discovered ricotta cheese and it's rocking my world! Please share with me your favorite ricotta recipes--sweet, savory, fresh, baked, etc. I can't get enough of that creamy stuff. Ideally without meat as I'm a vegetarian, but do cook fish and happy to sub veggies/tofu for meat if needed. Thank you!
posted by stillmoving to Food & Drink (26 answers total)

Best answer: Very easy crostini. Toast some bread, put a blob of ricotta on the top, add a bit of fresh lemon zest, some sea salt or big flake kosher salt, and a drizzle of good olive oil. Fantastic.
posted by ch1x0r at 4:54 PM on December 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: ricotta gnocchi
posted by smoke at 5:02 PM on December 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I like making steel cut oats, then topping them with ricotta and either caramelized onions or pico de gallo. I like it as a change to sweet breakfast cereals.
posted by googlebombed at 5:06 PM on December 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I made this vegetarian-friendly spaghetti pie this past weekend and it was a big hit around the house, even though we are normally meatatarians. It's very rich, so I paired it with a sharp tomato sauce and it was perfect.
posted by slenderloris at 5:09 PM on December 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Really simple one: make pasta (I prefer larger shapes that are not long for this - rotini or cavatappi, but whatever you like is fine.) It scales up easily, but for one person add half a can of canned roasted tomatoes, two to three spoonfuls of ricotta cheese, and then a spoonful or two of capers and if you like, grated parmesan.

Really simple dinner, and you can also do other tomato sauce options, or add olives instead of capers, or basically anything else that makes sense with pasta.

Also pretty easy: polenta, cooked up, then sliced and panfried in a little butter or olive oil. Put onto a plate, put a spoonful of ricotta or two on top of each slice, drizzle with a tiny amount of honey. (This one especially rewards good ingredients.)
posted by modernhypatia at 5:11 PM on December 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I love really good ricotta on graham crackers as an easy, super delicious, mildly sweet snack. Or a dessert, I guess, but I usually eat it as a snack.
posted by bananacabana at 5:20 PM on December 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Bowties! aaand Galette!
posted by blackcatcuriouser at 5:28 PM on December 29, 2017

Best answer: I make a quiche with cherry tomatoes, herbs, and spinach, and drop ricotta dollops on top before I bake it. So good!
posted by Weeping_angel at 5:29 PM on December 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I can't think of a better way to highlight ricotta than a good lasagna. I can't find my usual recipe for four-cheese lasagna but this one from America's Test Kitchen is similar.
posted by capricorn at 5:29 PM on December 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Stuffed shells
posted by katie at 6:02 PM on December 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Whipped ricotta with basil: about 1 cup of ricotta, 1/2 cup fresh basil (parsley thrown in if you’d like), a few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, a healthy dose of freshly ground black pepper, and a generous pinch of chunky salt. Whir in food processor or beat with hand mixer until the herbs and the ricotta meld.

Served this with pasta and cherry tomatoes in the summer. And just served it tonight with white beans and roasted tomatoes.

You can do a version with fresh thyme, too. (Use less of it than the basil.) Good with squash, pasta, or squash and pasta together.

Can’t get enough of this stuff.
posted by veggieboy at 6:04 PM on December 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Have you tried ricotta salata? SO delicious. Here's a wonderful spring salad:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012582-sugar-snap-pea-salad-with-radishes-mint-and-ricotta-salata
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 7:00 PM on December 29, 2017

Best answer: Velvet eggs: fold ricotta in as you scramble.

On toast with honey drizzled over. I quite like marmalade also, but any jam is nice.

Spread it on fresh halved figs.
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:07 PM on December 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I never liked pancakes until I made lemon ricotta pancakes.
posted by aws17576 at 7:38 PM on December 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Fresh linguine with a scoop of ricotta and topped with toasted almonds, salt and pepper. A revelation.
posted by honeybee413 at 7:58 PM on December 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Perhaps this is a tangent, but did you know that it's pretty simple to make your own ricotta? Particularly with an instant pot? I've been doing it for the past few months, and my ricotta intake has skyrocketed.
posted by nedpwolf at 8:06 PM on December 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: When I make cheese raviolis, the filling is always ricotta, parmesan, and then a couple other cheeses (Basic/traditional might be fontina & gorgonzola, but I've also gotten good results mixing in various combinations of taleggio, gruyere, roquefort, bayley hazen blue, buffulo brie, & leerdammer)

Also, aws17576 is correct: lemon ricotta pancakes are awesome.
posted by aubilenon at 8:35 PM on December 29, 2017

Best answer: I don't know if using eggs is acceptable to you as a vegetarian, but if you like cheesecake, this is fabulous. It's not the prettiest looking cheesecake (it falls in the middle), but it tastes wonderful, and the texture is nicer than a Philly-based cheesecake.
posted by sardonyx at 9:40 PM on December 29, 2017

Response by poster: Nom nom nom, thank you!
posted by stillmoving at 4:04 AM on December 30, 2017

Best answer: I like ricotta as a pizza topping - just little dollops of it here and there, especially nice on a white pizza with some greens.
posted by mskyle at 7:29 AM on December 30, 2017

Best answer: 1 c ricotta
4oz goat cheese
2 T olive oil
1 t lemon zest or 1T lemon juice
1 T fresh chopped basil
Salt and pepper to taste
Crackers optional, I just eat it with a spoon
posted by danapiper at 10:28 AM on December 30, 2017

Best answer: This previous question of mine has a lot of suggestions!
posted by cp311 at 5:58 PM on December 30, 2017

Best answer: This pasta with five cheeses is amazing. It's very rich and satisfying and super easy. I sub goat cheese for the gorgonzola because I am allergic. We've subbed in a lot of different cheeses because we happened to have them in the house--baby Swiss, Parmesan, even pepper Jack--and believe it or not it still works. The ricotta has to be there though. I suggest trying it just as it is first. You will not be disappointed.
posted by zorseshoes at 9:27 PM on December 30, 2017

Best answer: I've made this baked ricotta and goat cheese, too, now that I think of it. (I really like ricotta and goat cheese.) The tomatoes are great, too. Nice party dish.
posted by zorseshoes at 9:32 PM on December 30, 2017

Best answer: Oh! Ricotta is a great thing to stuff mushrooms with when you're making stuffed mushrooms. (I don't have a favorite recipe though - I just google it afresh each time)
posted by aubilenon at 11:57 PM on December 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you, cp311, I missed that when searching the archives! More ricottaliciousness, yum!
posted by stillmoving at 1:24 AM on January 2, 2018