It is difficult to find a tourist who, resting in Italy, would not try the traditional desserts of this country based on ricotta. This cheese has a special, sweetish flavor, for which confectioners love it so much. But in other areas of cooking, ricotta cheese is no less popular . What do Italians eat it with? What recipes are used for this? Answers to these and other questions can be found in the article.
What is ricotta?
First of all, ricotta is an Italian cheese, the production of which differs significantly from other varieties. More precisely, this is not even cheese, but a traditional dairy product. It looks more like cottage cheese, but has a softer consistency. The taste is not sour, but rather fresh, even rather sweetish.
It is difficult to call Ricotta cheese, because it is made not from milk (according to the traditional recipe), but from whey, which remains after receiving mozzarella or other varieties. This is a product of the recycling of raw materials. The appearance of this type of cheese in Italy was associated with the need to dispose of a large amount of whey, which remained in the production of mozzarella.
Ricotta has lactose, which gives it a sweetish aftertaste. The fat content of cheese depends on what milk is used in the production (cow, sheep, etc.), and varies from 8% to 24%. Associated with this is the lower calorie content of ricotta cheese. What do Italians eat with it? Surely with desserts. This makes them not only tasty, but also very useful for the figure.
Production technology
Ricotta is a product that results from re-boiling whey. Translated from Italian, cotta means “cook,” and ri is a prefix that indicates the repetition of an action. The process of getting ricotta is simple and does not take much time.
First, the whey is heated to a temperature of 80 degrees. Due to this, milk fats begin to curl up and precipitate. The main condition of production is to maintain the required temperature at the level of 80-90 degrees. After about 1 hour, all ricotta flakes can be collected from the surface of the whey.
According to the production technology, ricotta is more reminiscent of
soft cottage cheese . In general, there are several types of ricotta, which is made from different whey and aged for a certain time.
Italian ricotta cheese: what to eat?
Ricotta, like cottage cheese, easily whips into a soft mass. Thanks to this, such cheese is used in traditional Italian desserts. But not only confectioners appreciate ricotta. What else is this soft cheese with?
Ricotta is used in the preparation of certain types of lasagna, in baking traditional Italian Easter bread, it is spread as a paste on sandwiches, crackers. Soft cheese with a sweet taste goes well with fresh vegetables and fruits. Therefore, it is often used as one of the ingredients in salads.
Ricotta allows you to make the dish less high-calorie. In desserts, it is sometimes replaced with heavy cream. In this case, add a little boiled water to the soft cheese and mix the mass well with a spoon. In such a consistency, it can be used as a cream.
Ricotta suits many foods. It complements traditional dishes with a unique Italian zest.
Traditional Ricotta Dessert: Italian Fiadone
This dessert has an indescribable aroma of citrus and vanilla, an amazing taste and is incredible ease of preparation. The main ingredient of the dish is ricotta cheese. What is this dessert with? It is especially tasty with strawberry jam, although in Russia it is served even with sour cream.
To prepare this traditional Italian dessert, you first need to beat 3 eggs and 50 g of sugar. The mass should become lush, white. The amount of sugar can be increased or decreased, depending on taste preferences.
Now you can add other ingredients: a teaspoon of vanilla, a pinch of salt, zest of 1 lemon and starch (1 tbsp. Of corn or potato). Beat the mass well until smooth. Then carefully ricotta (250 g).
Pour the resulting mass into a sheet covered with parchment. Bake until golden brown for about 40 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees. Finished fiadone cut into squares or triangles.
"Sicilian cassata"
This is one of the most popular and favorite desserts in Italy. Many confectioners believe that it is almost impossible for a layman to repeat the taste of a real cassette. In fact, everything is not so complicated. The main thing is that it is ricotta that is used in the preparation. What is such a dessert with? A cassette is served with Sicilian dessert wine or other traditional drinks.
First you need to prepare the cream, because it must be well chilled. Beat Ricotta (500 g) with icing sugar and add 100 g of candied fruit soaked in rum. The resulting cream should be sent to the refrigerator for 12 hours.
At this time, bake a biscuit according to your proven recipe, which every housewife must have. Ready cake to cut lengthwise into 3 parts.
So that the biscuit does not turn out dry to taste, it must be soaked. To do this, prepare sugar syrup from 100 ml of water, a tablespoon of sugar and 25 ml of rum. Wait until it cools, and you can collect the cassette.
Put the first biscuit disk into the mold and saturate it with syrup using a silicone brush. Apply a layer of cream on top. Repeat the same with other discs. Put the cassette in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
After a specified time, the dessert can be decorated. To do this, you need powdered sugar and 200 g of ricotta cheese (with what to eat, indicated above). Prepare a cream of ingredients and coat them on the sides and top of the cake. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios on top. By the way, the cassette is prepared not only as a cake, but also in the form of small cakes.
Ricotta cheese: what to eat, recipes for tasty and healthy salads
Gourmet Italian desserts with curd cheese - it is certainly very tasty. But this is not all dishes where ricotta cheese is used. What do they eat it with? Often it is used in salads, with fresh vegetables and fruits.
Many Italians like the combination of ricotta with chicken and apples. The salad is very healthy and low in calories. To cook it, you need to cut the boiled chicken fillet into strips (500 g), sweet and sour apples (3 pcs.) In large pieces, and tear the bunch of green salad by hand. Add 250 g of ricotta, pour dressing on top and garnish with quail eggs halves. Salad ready!
To prepare the dressing you will need 6 tbsp. tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tsp. mustard seeds, 1 tbsp. wine vinegar spoon, 3 tbsp. tablespoons of boiled water and 1 teaspoon of honey. Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Refueling is ready!
You can make a sweet fruit salad based on ricotta cheese. What is there and what to add to it? Favorite fruits and berries (apples, bananas, strawberries, grapes) cut into large pieces, combine in one plate and season with whipped ricotta cheese. Top with honey to taste. Such a salad will be useful even for breakfast.
What can replace ricotta?
Ricotta has its own special taste, so replacing it in salads and other dishes is not recommended. But if this is necessary, you can choose any soft cheese (for example, Almette), even home-made cottage cheese. It is desirable that it be fresh, slightly reminiscent of the taste of ricotta cheese. What is it with?
Soft curd cheese is added to the same dishes as ricotta. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that it will be possible to repeat the refined taste. Therefore, when preparing an Italian dessert or salad, it makes sense to look for exactly ricotta on store shelves.