I was intrigued to read that superstar baker Dorie Greenspan is working on a book on simple cakes. Simple cakes are the best! You can have a nice slice for breakfast without feeling like you’ve gone off the rails, then another piece in mid-afternoon with a cup of tea. A little sliver before bed with a wee dram of Madeira? Oh, yeah.
Read moreCrazy Good Italian
If you love Italy and Italian food (everyone on board?), you’re going to love Viola Buitoni’s new book, Italy by Ingredient. A native of Rome, Buitoni is now a cooking teacher in San Francisco with a devoted following (which includes me). She comes from food aristocracy—the family behind Buitoni pasta and Perugina chocolates—but her cooking is rustic and original, prizing fine ingredients over fancy technique. Ricotta and mozzarella are among her must-haves in the kitchen, and she has some tantalizing ideas for using them.
Read moreBoard Game
Butter boards had their 15 minutes. Now, meet the ricotta board—which, naturally, I vastly prefer. Channel your inner artist and make a masterpiece with whipped ricotta and the toppings you like. (I have some suggestions.) I love how creamy ricotta becomes in a food processor, making a luscious canvas for toasted pistachios, briny olives, tapenade, pesto, prosciutto or whatever strikes your fancy. Add little knives for spreading and bread or crackers to spread it on.
Read moreBaked Lemon Ricotta is a Slice of Puglia
Is it cheese…or is it cake? Or is it cheesecake? Baked lemon ricotta is a modern creation produced by a small family enterprise in Puglia, but there’s plenty of tradition behind it. In Sicily and Puglia, shepherds long ago figured out that they could bake their ricotta in their wood-burning oven and extend its lifespan. Thirty-five years ago, the Donvito family took the practice in a new direction, creating a line of sweet, sliceable baked ricottas flavored with lemon, coffee, cocoa and pistachio. The lemon version—the bestseller by far—turns up at American cheese counters occasionally and I’ve been eyeing it, but not trying it, for years.
Read moreTake the Cannoli Ice Cream
I only recently learned that the most famous lines in The Godfather (“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”) were not in the script. Actor Richard Castellano ad-libbed them. Movie critics have debated the meaning, but to me it’s obvious. What kind of Italian-American would leave cannoli behind, even fleeing a crime scene?
Read moreSix Ricotta Dishes to Make Before Summer Ends
We’re having a pesto marathon at my house. Tonight…and tomorrow night..and the next night. The garden basil is out of control and it’s now or never for the year’s sweetest pesto. I had made pesto for decades before discovering what a spoonful of ricotta does for it. So creamy! Fred Plotkin, the author of the bible on Ligurian cooking (Recipes from Paradise: Life and Food on the Italian Riviera), assures me that ricotta is a legitimate addition, although he would probably say I use too much. (I live on Planet Cheese, after all.) Try my way and let me know what you think.
Read moreMake Dad’s Day with Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes
My dad couldn’t cook but he could at least follow the recipe on the Bisquick box. So Bisquick pancakes are the pancakes of my childhood. These aren’t those. My made-from-scratch hotcakes are likely the fluffiest you’ll ever have. Fresh ricotta keeps them moist and beaten egg whites make them airy. It’s blueberry season so I sprinkled a few plump berries into the batter on the griddle and made a blueberry-maple sauce to serve on the side.
Read moreShave This Cheese in Spring Salads
Topping my list of cheeses that deserve more love than they typically get: ricotta salata. With spring imminent and asparagus beckoning, this savory sheep cheese should be in your fridge. It’s so useful! I don’t snack on it—it’s not meant for that—but I do shave it in salads and grate it on pasta with spring vegetables or lamb. It loves asparagus, fava beans, peas, fennel, zucchini, beets. Basically, it’s ricotta with moisture removed so it will last longer.
Read moreNot Quite Cannoli
I’ve always loved cannoli filling but the fried outside? Not so much. Bakeries refrigerate this perishable pastry, and the crunchy shell loses all its appeal. So I just make the inside—basically, a whipped ricotta mousse with chopped bittersweet chocolate, toasted pistachios and almonds, and candied orange peel. Lately, I’ve used Seville orange marmalade to sweeten the mousse and eliminated the candied peel. So easy. If you’re treating Mom to a homemade meal on Mother’s Day, here’s her dessert. Or her breakfast in bed. What a luscious way to start the day.
Read morePesto of Your Dreams
I’ve been working on my pesto recipe for a few decades but I’ve never been 100 percent satisfied. Sometimes I make it in a mortar, like you’re supposed to, but it seems to discolor more with that method. Sometimes I blanch the basil leaves for a few seconds to keep the color, a trick I learned from Michael Chiarello, who also adds a pinch of ascorbic acid for the same reason. But that always seems a bit like cheating. Recently, perusing a new Italian cookbook, I saw another approach that intrigued me.
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