A granular, soft, white, slightly acid-tasting cheese containing about low fat.

Common Culinary Uses
Like mascarpone in northern-Italian cuisine, ricotta is a favorite component of many Italian desserts, such as cheesecakes and cannoli. There are also kinds of cookies that include ricotta as an ingredient.

In households and dining establishments, ricotta is often beaten smooth and mixed with condiments, such as sugar, cinnamon and occasionally chocolate shavings, and served as a dessert. This basic combination (often with additions such as citrus and pistachios) also features prominently as the filling of the crunchy tubular shell of the Sicilian cannoli, and layered with slices of cake in Palermo's cassata.

Combined with eggs and cooked grains, then baked firm, ricotta is also a main ingredient in Naples' pastiera, one of Italy's many "Easter pies". Regional variations may be sweet or savory. Ricotta may also be used in savory dishes, including pasta, calzoni, pizza, manicotti, lasagne, and ravioli. It also makes a suitable substitute for mayonnaise in traditional egg or tuna salad and as a sauce thickener.ricotta is a fresh cheese and should be kept for only a few days, or it will acidify.

Ricotta should be sweet and mild; it is ready to eat from the package, and often served with pasta, fruit, or vegetables.

» Varieties
» Buying and storing
» Availability
» Preparation tips
» Nutritional highlights
Ricotta is a mild, finely textured cheese.

Buying and storing tips
Ricotta is perishable and can be kept, refrigerated, for about a week. When purchasing ricotta, avoid any product that tastes sharp and fruity, as that indicates that the cheese is no longer fresh. Ricotta should be sweet and mild, ready to eat as it comes out of the package, with pasta, fruit, or vegetables.

Preparation, uses, and tips
Ricotta is used in pasta dishes with fettuccine or tortellini, in dumplings, and as stuffing for ravioli or eggplant. As a dessert cheese, it can be baked in pastry, used to create molded cream desserts, or served lightly sweetened with fruit.