Use It Up! 11 Recipes for Leftover Ricotta (2024)

FAQs

What to do with a lot of ricotta? ›

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.

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).

Fresh ricotta is fluffy, creamy, spreadable. It can be spooned into a dish and baked in the oven to become baked ricotta. The top browns and is slightly crusty and toasted and the middle is warm and creamy. Fresh ricotta can also be baked into dishes or used as an ingredient in baked goods.

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.

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.

Because ricotta has a high moisture content, the water in it will become ice once it's frozen, causing the texture to change. As the curds and whey are divided by the ice, the cheese will become more dry and crumbly in texture.

Some sources suggest that ricotta may last up to two weeks, but past that one-week mark you should look for signs of spoilage (more on that in a moment). And if it's been sitting for more than two weeks, throw it away.

Yes, you can freeze ricotta cheese. But keep in mind that its texture will change as ricotta has a high level of moisture, so it will become grainy or slightly watery upon thawing. You can use it in cooked dishes, like lasagna or cannelloni, where the texture will be less noticeable.

Ricotta is mild, creamy, and holds its shape when heated, making it perfect for dolloping over pizza crust (for a gooey, melty cheese pizza, try Burrata Pizza).

Why is it important to let ricotta cheese drain after you make it? ›

That's why it's important to give yourself as many advantages as you possibly can, especially when it comes to removing excess moisture before and during the cooking process. Epstein explains that if ricotta isn't drained as part of the prep, "the moisture in the ricotta causes the lasagna to fall apart."

Compared to most cheeses, ricotta is a healthier choice because it contains less salt and fat - 10 per cent fat, of which 6 per cent is saturated. It's light and creamy with a slightly grainy texture and delicate flavour that can be used on its own or in sweet and savoury dishes.

So, ricotta actually translates to recooked in Italian, and ricotta is what's called a "whey cheese." When you make cheese, you separate milk into two distinct things. You have the solids, called curds, which will be separated out and pressed to form cheese. And you have the liquid that is left behind, called whey.

As reported by Daly et al. [4], some spoilage microorganisms (Pseudomonas spp, Enterococci, Serratia spp.) but also starter cultures have been associated to pink/red discolorations in cheese [5][6][7][8]; this discoloration was already reported also in Italian seasoned ricotta [9] . ...

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.

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.

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.

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.