High fat mascarpone cream cheese is made from cow's milk and cream. The birthplace of its origin is northern Italy. Mascarpone has a rich, sweet and slightly tart taste, a bit like butter. The final product of the production process is a thick cream with a soft texture, white or cream color.
Mascarpone is an excellent source of calcium and calories. But it can not be used in its pure form and in large quantities, as this can lead to obesity and atherosclerosis. The fat content in dry matter reaches 50%.
By the way, all recipes with mascarpone apply not only to desserts. Of course, such delicacies as tiramisu, cakes and pastries are prepared on its basis. But mascarpone goes well with other types of cheese. In addition, it is used quite often in preparatory processes for a number of sauces and main dishes. Mascarpone is good for pasta or sandwiches. Therefore, the question of what to cook from mascarpone, you can give a fairly simple answer - a lot - and the first, and main dish, and dessert.
For example, a soup with olives and mascarpone cheese will be tasty and unusual. To do this, add boiling water to rice, potatoes, olives and olive oil. Boil all this for 5 minutes. After that add the mascarpone cheese and mix everything in a blender, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the soup hot or cold, garnished with a slice of cheese and olive. For taste, you can add anchovies or a spoonful of capers to the soup.
The recipes with the mascarpone of the main dishes are quite diverse. This cheese is great for making pasta sauce, as a filling for shingles, ideal in combination with spinach and tasty with rice. For example, you can cook scallops with mascarpone cheese. To do this, melt the butter in a saucepan, add olive oil, garlic and a handful of chopped parsley. After that add chopped mushrooms, asparagus, season to taste with salt and pepper. Add scallops to this sauce and stew together for several minutes. In another pan, put mascarpone, milk and a little butter, cook, stirring constantly. Serve with a side dish, which you can use pasta.
There are also many recipes with mascarpone and vegetables. Stuffed potatoes are very tasty . To do this, you need to cook the prepared root crop to ¾ of its softness (that is, almost bring it to readiness) and cleanse the skin. Then cut the potatoes in half and remove the core with a spoon, which is mixed with mascarpone cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Put the filling in prepared potato molds and sprinkle with hard cheese. Bake for about 10 minutes in the oven at a temperature of 160 C.
A great way to pamper yourself and your guests may well be a tiramisu cocktail, which includes mascarpone cheese. The recipe for making such a drink is quite simple, it has a refreshing effect and gives a good boost of energy. For such a mix, only a few components are needed - the cheese itself, milk, coffee, cocoa and amaretto. All ingredients must be mixed in a blender, add sugar to taste. Pour into cups or tall glasses, sprinkle a little cocoa. If you add a few ice cubes to the mixture, this dessert will become even more refreshing and foamy.
But the most unusual recipes with mascarpone taste - in combination with fruits. It is perfect with raspberries, strawberries, watermelon or kiwi. With mascarpone you can cook grilled melon. First you need to make cheese sauce. To do this, dip the figs in boiling water and cut into strips, chopped nuts and cherries, cut in half. To the cheese add chopped nuts, cherries, 1 teaspoon of honey and figs. To mix everything. Cut the melon in half, remove the seeds with a spoon and cut into three parts. Peel the peel, and grease the slices themselves with a brush dipped in honey. Pieces of melon put on the grill and fry for a minute on each side. Put the fried melon on plates and pour over the cooked sauce, adding a leaf of mint or lemon balm.