A simple ingredient that can make an entire menu special: here's how to choose ricotta, how to use it in the kitchen and our recipes
Light, natural, with a fresh taste and a high nutritional value, the ricotta cheese has won the favor of Italian consumers. And not just theirs, given that, in ten years, its production in the USA has grown by almost 100%.
A real boom, which is also explained by the fact that it is among the most versatile and appreciated foods in the kitchen: perfect for preparing croutons and canapés, is the basic ingredient of many creams and preparations of confectionery (let's think only of Sicilian cannoli or Neapolitan pastiera), without forgetting the savory pies, the fillings for ravioli is tortellini, i sauces for pasta and dozens of other culinary preparations.
Different types for different uses
Among the ricotta vaccines of industrial manufacture currently available on the market, we can distinguish different types in relation to the ingredients used.
The common basis is always whey, but some ricottas are produced with only serum, others also contain cow's milk and others are added with milk cream.
As for the other ingredients, all industrial products use suitable acidity correctors. The most common is citric acid, but sometimes lactic acid is also used, which is naturally produced in fermented milk.
Finally, some ricottas are added with salt and, in some cases, even with live milk enzymes.
It is evident that such a varied composition determines equally various characteristics of taste, aroma and consistency, giving each product specific prerogatives, which make it more or less suitable depending on the use to be made of it and the particular tastes of consumers.
How to check the quality
Whatever the use to which fresh ricotta is intended, some quality requirements must be respected. Given the tendency to deteriorate rapidly, the first thing to check is freshness. In the case of industrial products, the expiry date is a useful reference: it must be as far away as possible. In any case, it is always advisable to directly check the freshness before use. The organoleptic characteristics that first indicate an alteration are the smell, the color and the consistency:
– when it's fresh it has a perfume delicate, milky and vaguely aromatic depending on the variety; when it alters the smell becomes pungent, acidic to the point of becoming decidedly unpleasant
– natural coloring snow White becomes darker with aging, fading towards yellowish
– when soured it has a thicker paste e sfarinabile compared to the fresh product
– the taste of a fresh ricotta is sweetish, milky, slightly acid; once altered, the acidic note becomes predominant until the product is inedible
– the separation liquid observed in the packaging of industrial products after opening is a natural consequence of the manufacturing process, however it must not be excessive
In the gallery above, 10 recipes with ricotta.
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