Ricotta Cheese

I'm only one-quarter Italian, but it's a very loud, assertive 25% (it also gesticulates wildly when it talks, wears leather pants, grows a tomato plant on its tiny balcony, and stares openly at beautiful women). This vociferous genetic heritage bangs its spoon on the table and demands lasagna.

Fortunately, the rest of me agrees that lasagna is pretty darn tasty. I have a bunch of recipes (or suggestions ;) ) for lasagna, which I will eventually share, but they all have one important thing in common: RICOTTA.

Educational Aside: Ricotta means "re-cooked" in Italian. It is made by taking the whey that is a byproduct of making other cheese such as mozzarella, and then adding a little more acid and re-heating the whey. This causes a second batch of curds to form, much smaller than the first batch, which are strained out, salted, and enjoyed. It's in the category of cream cheese and cottage cheese, being uncultured and fresh (like some people I know). It contains lots of lactose, unlike cultured cheeses who might have less if the culture has broken the lactose down.

Not all ricottas are the same. There's the fat content:

1. Whole Milk: The richest, creamiest, most authentic cheese, but also a bit of an indulgence, as with all full-fat cheeses. I use this on special occasions.
2. Part-Skim: Slightly higher water content, slightly grainier texture, slighter healthier nutritional profile. I consider it a good compromise.
3. Fat-Free: Has an oddly gelatinous texture, usually because there are various gums added to keep it a cheese - there would otherwise not be enough to it to be anything but liquid whey. I will sometimes mix this into regular ricotta when I am making a recipe that I feel has too much fat already, but I never use it by itself. If, however, you are being really careful about your caloric intake, you can use this anywhere you'd use regular ricotta. Putting it through the food processor, or just stirring it really well, helps with the texture.

Then there's the brands (in reverse order of deliciousness):

1. Store brand: Good enough if you're mixing it with something, like if you're using a recipe that calls for part ricotta and part cottage cheese. Has the grainiest texture, and is the most inclined to separate.
2. Sorrento, Sargento, and Dragone: These are, to my tastes, roughly equivalent. I like Dragone part-skim slightly better, and Sorrento whole milk slightly better, but honestly, if it's in a recipe I can't tell the difference.
3. Biazza: THIS IS THE SHIZNIT. Seriously. I am not even joking. THE SHIZNIT. Go buy it and eat it, straight out of the carton with a spoon, it's that good. It's incredibly creamy, the curds are so tiny that you can't even detect them so there's no graininess, it doesn't separate, and it's totally natural with no gums or lactic acids. It's a bit regional, made in New Jersey, so might not be available everywhere. If that's so, then I feel your pain.

If you've sprung for a good ricotta, here's your ultimate low-carb, high-calcium, high-protein dessert:

Per serving:

1/2 cup ricotta
2 packets or 1 1/2 tbsp sweetener or equivalent
1/2 tsp vanilla, OR 1/4 tsp almond extract

Mix that sucker up in a bowl and eat it. BAM - instant deliciousness. Even my husband can make this. It's a good breakfast food, too. If you want to make it fancy, you can drizzle on a little chocolate or caramel sundae syrup.