The market · Dairy and eggs · Southern Europe

Ricotta

Italian whey cheese: the whey left from making other cheese, heated again until its last proteins set into soft curds.

milky · fresh · sweet

Kinds

Cow's
Mild; the usual one.
Sheep's (ricotta di pecora)
Richer and sweeter; Rome and Sicily's, for cannoli.
Ricotta salata
Pressed, salted and aged; for grating and crumbling.

Goes with

lemonspinachhoneybroad bean

Knowing it

Where to buy
Italian delis, fresh in its basket. Supermarket tubs are wetter.
A little history
Ricotta means 'recooked'.
Worth knowing
Drain it in a sieve for an hour before it goes into ravioli, or the filling weeps.

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