Cheese similar to ricotta. What to replace cheese with. What desserts can you make?

The peculiarity of this cheese is that it is made not from milk, but from whey released during the production of some rennet cheese (for example, mozzarella). The whey is digested without bringing to a boil, and flakes of the floating mass are collected from the surface. Actually, the word “ricotta” means “re-cooking.” To create this product, Italian brewers use milk from almost all types of animals that produce it - cows and goats, sheep or buffaloes. By the way, even in ordinary home conditions this cheese can be made if you take it.

Use in cooking

The taste of the cheese is slightly sweet, the color is white-cream, and the creamy curd structure is slightly grainy and incredibly tender.

Of course, only those who lived in Italy can fully understand what ricotta is; in the homeland of this product, hundreds of different recipes were invented - from salads and sauces to exquisite desserts and delicious pastries.

Cheese is universal and can become the basis of first and second courses, appetizers, gravy, pies, etc.

Aged and smoked ricotta is usually treated like other cheese, served with vegetables, herbs, bread, and wine is offered with the meal - this is generally the best thing to eat ricotta with. This is how the cheese fully reveals its taste. The ordinary white variety can serve as mince for ravioli, pies, and is good in pizza and lasagna. But this dairy product found its most effective use in the art of confectionery. Her used in the preparation of casseroles, cheesecakes, cupcakes, and as a filling for cakes and pies. For these purposes, young cheese is usually chosen.

What can be replaced

This Italian whey milk product is similar to some other fermented milk products.

If necessary, you can replace it, for example, with cream cheeses Philadelphia, Mascarpone, Buko, Almette.

Buttermilk cheese is very good for cheesecakes (it has a soft, slightly sour taste and creamy texture).

An excellent option is the delicious, but very expensive Fromage Blanc cheese - buttery, with the consistency of yogurt.

If you are looking for a simpler option, use fresh soft cottage cheese or very fresh goat cheese.

Secrets of KBJU

Like any other whey-based cheese, ricotta has a low fat content and a high protein content, so it is simply irreplaceable for those who follow a protein diet.

But different types of cheese have their own fat content: for example, soft cheese made from cow’s milk contains 8% fat, and from sheep’s milk – 24%.

The protein component here is represented by albumins - simple proteins that dissolve well in water, also found in egg whites, plant seeds and human blood, so in some way this cheese is related to us.

This makes it easily digestible.

Despite its nutritional value, ricotta has a low calorie content - 170-180 kcal, and is simply an ideal dietary product.

The content of protein, fat and carbohydrates (BJU) in regular cheese is 11 g, 13 g, 3 g, respectively.

What delicious things can you cook?

The most famous classic dish with ricotta is the Italian Easter pie Pastiera, the recipe of which, according to the Italians, is more than 2 thousand years old.

Sicilian cannoli cakes and fruit cakes made with this cheese are incredibly delicious.

Universal ricotta allows you to create a divine dessert without heat treatment.

This is very useful in hot weather or if you need to quickly prepare a treat.

You can simply combine it with citrus zest, flavor it with vanilla or rose water, add fruit, cocoa or chopped chocolate, season with cinnamon or add young honey.

Chocolate dessert

This recipe is a great example of how and what exactly you can make from cheese for dessert. Believe me, these pastries taste simply magical!

You will need:

600 g ricotta cheese
300 g granulated sugar
3 tsp. vanilla sugar
8 eggs
4 tbsp. l. medium fat sour cream
100 g wheat flour
100 g white chocolate
100 g milk chocolate
berries (strawberries, wild strawberries, raspberries, etc.) - according to season and desire.

How to do:

Separate the yolks from the whites (4 pcs.).
Using a mixer, thoroughly foam the whites.
Add the yolks one at a time and, setting the unit to minimum speed, continue beating the egg mass.
Slowly (in a thin stream) add half of the prepared sugar and flour.
Place the dough in a molding container and bake (+ 180 °C) for about half an hour.
Separate the yolks and whites (4 pcs.).
Beat the protein mixture thoroughly, add the remaining yolks, the remaining granulated and vanilla sugar, ricotta, and sour cream one by one.
Melt white and milk chocolate in separate containers in a water bath.
Divide the prepared cheese mixture in half. Combine the first part with one chocolate mass, the other with the second.
Place the white and dark beige sweet mixture in layers (alternately) on the baked dough (the number of layers is at your discretion).
Bake the treat (+ 180 °C) for about 40 minutes.
Decorate the cheesecake with berries if desired.

Dessert with ricotta, fruit and cookies without baking

And this treat is even easier to prepare - you don’t need to bake anything.

A wonderful summer tea recipe – light, refreshing, uncomplicated and quite effective.

What do you need:

Recipe Information

Cuisine:European
Type of dish: dessert
Cooking method: no baking
Servings:2-3
30 min

250 g ricotta
50 ml cream (30-35%)
100 g sugar
6 pcs. any cookies
300 g peaches, pears, large strawberries (optional)
15 fresh mint leaves

Cooking steps:

Cut the fruit into small slices.
Finely chop mint leaves and mix with fruit.
Break the cookies into small pieces.
Whip the cream with sugar, combine the mixture with cheese, stir.
Place a third of the cream cheese mixture on the bottom of the dessert bowl.
Top with assorted fruits and mint.
The next layer is again cream with ricotta (third part).
On top are cookies.
The last “floor” is the remaining cream cheese mixture.
Cover the treat with cling film and chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Note to the hostess

If you want to enjoy the pure taste of delicate cheese, then opt for fresh vegetables and fruits. Try simply cutting an apple into slices, spreading them with ricotta and serving them with a cup of tea – it’s incredibly delicious! And it’s also non-caloric.
With a neutral flavor profile, this Italian dairy product eagerly absorbs citrus and chocolate flavors and aromas. She is favorable to cinnamon, vanilla, various nuts and cane sugar. But still, when preparing one dish, do not overdo it with fillers. It is advisable that there be no more than four.
Ricotta lends itself perfectly to coloring, soaking in syrups, retains its shape wonderfully and is not capricious when baking.

Useful video

You can make an excellent universal cream from ricotta, which is suitable for filling, baskets, and for decorating or greasing the cake layers of any cakes. In general, not a cream, but a godsend, to be honest:

Girls, I came across a very interesting article on the Internet. I hope it's useful.

"Cheese is very often used in the preparation of various culinary delights: sushi, lasagna, pizza, pasta, cheesecake. However, in classic recipes such types of cheese are used that are either difficult to find in regular stores, or they are beyond the means of the average person. How to replace cheese in such recipes and how to choose a budget alternative to expensive varieties of cheese?
How to replace Parmesan cheese

Parmesan is a hard Italian cheese, its structure is brittle, granular and scaly, so when melted it does not form threads. To prepare one head of Parmesan, 550 liters of milk are required, and the ripening time for such a head after preparation is 36 months. It is not surprising that the cost of a kilogram reaches 1200 rubles. Of course, housewives have a question: what can replace cheese of such cost?

If the recipe uses grated Parmesan (for pizza or lasagna), then you can replace it with any hard cheese: “Rokiskis” or “Dziugas” (Lithuania), “Swiss cheese” (Altai), any Dutch or Russian hard cheese.
For dishes where the taste of Parmesan is important or its property of not melting into stretchy threads, the only possible replacement is Grana Padano cheese (Italy).

How to replace Ricotta cheese

Ricotta is an Italian dairy product made from the whey left over from making Mozzarella or other cheeses. Ricotta has a sweetish taste, its fat content varies from 8 to 24%. Most often, ricotta is used to make desserts: cakes, pies, cannoli. A kilogram of this cheese costs about 1000 rubles, but you can find a cheaper analogue of this cheese, or rather, prepare it yourself.

Take a package of curdled milk and freeze it in the freezer. Remove the frozen bag and cut it open. Take a pan, place a colander on it, place several layers of gauze on the colander. Place the frozen piece of curdled milk in this colander and leave to thaw overnight. Overnight, the whey will run into the pan, and the curd mass will remain in the colander. Gather the gauze into a bundle and squeeze out the mass. An analogue of Ricotta cheese for cakes and cheesecakes is ready.

How to replace Philadelphia cheese

Philadelphia cheese is a soft, creamy cheese made from milk and cream with a delicate taste. The name "Philadelphia" is a brand of cream cheese that appeared with the light hand of the American company Kraft Foods. The price for a jar of 175 grams reaches 250 rubles. What if the recipe calls for 600 grams of this cheese? Of course, you need to look for a cheaper analogue. The cheeses most similar to Philadelphia are Mascarpone and Boursin, but they also cost a lot. The economical options include Almette (Hohland), Buko, and Rama Creme Bonjour cheese. Some housewives use processed cheese “Druzhba” and creamy “President” in trays, as well as “Viola” and “Violett” cheeses.

How to replace Mascarpone cheese

Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese from the Lombardy region. It contains 75% fat and has a creamy consistency, so it is often used in the preparation of desserts: cheesecakes, tiramisu, and also used as butter for sandwiches. To prepare it, take cow's milk or buffalo milk. The cost of Mascarpone is not inferior to the cost of Philadelphia cheese. Here are some recipes for making a “substitute” for Mascarpone cheese.

Analog of Mascarpone cheese No. 1
Cream cheese (any cream cheese from “substitutes” for Philadelphia cheese) – 1 package;
Cream (fat) – 100 ml;
Butter (it is better to soften it in advance) – 2 tbsp. l.
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl: cream cheese, cream and softened butter. Mix thoroughly, or use a blender. Use for desserts or to make delicate sandwiches.

Analogue of Mascarpone cheese No. 2
Chicken egg yolk – 3 pcs;
Sugar – 100 g;
Milk (or cream 10% fat) – 75 ml;
Ricotta cheese (you can use its substitute, which is described above) – 430 grams;
Heavy cream (35 percent) – 200 ml.
Preparation:
Pour the yolks and milk into a saucepan, add sugar. Cook the mixture over low heat for a couple of minutes. Cool the mixture.

Whip the heavy cream and add to the mixture. Add ricotta cheese or cheese substitute and mix thoroughly.

Analogue of Mascarpone cheese No. 3
Cream cheese – 230 grams;
Sour cream – 2 tbsp. l.
Heavy cream (35 percent) – 2 tbsp. l.
Whip the cream, add all other ingredients, mix thoroughly. Use the prepared mixture to make tiramisu dessert.

In addition, Mascarpone cheese is replaced with a mixture of cream and cottage cheese. To do this, you need to mix non-acidic fatty cottage cheese with heavy cream and beat until a uniform thick mass."
Article from the Internet
Author of the article
Leonid Veselov

We all sometimes cook overseas dishes to surprise our loved ones and guests. All kinds of lasagna, beignets, cheesecakes, crispelle... In Italy, an ingredient with an intricate name is added to these dishes - ricotta. What is this product and how can you replace ricotta if you don’t have it on hand? It turns out everything is very simple.

What is Ricotta?

Ricotta is a dairy product that is made from whey. Is of Italian origin. Some call ricotta soft cheese, others – light cottage cheese, and still others – curd cheese. Thanks to the lactose it contains, it has a sweet taste. This product is rich in calcium and contains vitamins A and B. Ricotta is low-calorie, so those who are watching their figure can safely consume it.

How to use ricotta?

Ricotta is eaten both in its pure form and added to a huge number of dishes: lasagna, salads, pastas, ravioli, pizzas. It is actively used in the preparation of sweet dishes: cheesecakes, pancakes, creams and much more. What if you can’t find ricotta, what can you replace it with?

What to replace Ricotta with?

This product cannot always be found on store shelves, and it is not cheap. Many housewives are looking for an equivalent replacement. So what can you use instead of Ricotta?

Ricotta can be replaced with:

Soft low-fat cottage cheese (for example, 5% fat)
Curd cheese (without fillers)
Extra heavy cream with lemon juice
Homemade homemade cottage cheese

How to make your own ricotta?

Store-bought ricotta can be replaced with homemade one. Let's look at several popular recipes for making ricotta:

Place the package of yogurt in the freezer. After it has frozen, cut the packaging, take a pan, and place a colander lined with gauze on it. Place the frozen yogurt in a colander and leave to thaw overnight. During this time, the whey will drain into the pan, and a curdled mass will remain in the colander. We collect the gauze into a knot and squeeze out the mass.
For 4 servings we will need: 1 l. pasteurized milk, 300 ml. cream 22%, 1/2 tsp. salt, juice of half a lemon. Mix milk and cream, add salt. Place on low heat, stirring occasionally. Bring the mixture to a boil. When the mixture boils, add lemon juice and stir well. When the curdled milk leaves the whey, remove the pan from the heat and cover with a towel. The mixture needs to be allowed to brew, so we transfer it to a colander with gauze. You need to wait for the whey to disappear (we wait about an hour), collect the gauze into a bundle and squeeze out the resulting mass. Homemade ricotta is ready.

Ricotta is a cheese that is a traditional dish among Italians. Cooks have an unspoken rule that nothing should be thrown away. This cheese is a classic example. During the preparation of cheese, whey remains and it is from this that Ricotta is made. This word means "re-cooked." In terms of its structure, this mass is not the cheese we are used to, but that is what it is called all over the world.

This cheese is made from the whey that remains after preparing other types of cheese. Also made from milk:

cows;
sheep;
buffaloes;
goats.

This mass has a sweet taste thanks to the lactose it contains. It has a delicate and unusual taste.

What and how to eat ricotta with

Not everyone knows what ingredients are best to combine ricotta with, where and how to add it correctly. This is a very practical product that fits perfectly into many dishes from salads to cakes.

To make the sauce tender and velvety, you need to add a couple of tablespoons of ricotta at the end of cooking.
Thanks to the perfect combination of cheese and eggs, ricotta will add a unique flavor to omelet or scrambled eggs.
It will add a pleasant taste to casseroles, both sweet and meaty.
Adds a delicate consistency to lasagna.
Good for making sandwiches. Easily spreads on bread. You can add greens, fish or avocado on top and a delicious quick snack is ready.
You can quickly decorate a cake or cupcakes on your holiday table by preparing a light, airy ricotta cream.
When preparing pie or cake dough, add a couple of tablespoons of cheese. This will make the delicacy more airy and fluffy.
Delicious for filling pancakes and ravioli.

You can combine this miracle cheese with any food: fruits, herbs, pasta, vegetables, confectionery. It is not recommended to add to dishes that contain fish or meat.

It has no contraindications, except for rare diseases of lactose intolerance. It is not recommended to consume more than 250 grams per day.

Calorie content of cheese

This is a dietary product that contains large amounts of calcium and proteins. Due to its low calorie content of only 174 kcal per 100 grams, it is suitable for people who adhere to a healthy diet.

Recipes with ricotta cheese

This cheese is well suited for use in cooking. Thanks to its natural sweet taste, the amount of sugar required in the recipe is reduced.

Pasta with tomatoes and ricotta

Once you try this pasta recipe, you will definitely make it your signature dish.

To make the dish tasty, the main thing is to choose the right tomatoes. They should be juicy and strong, without damage.

Ingredients:

ricotta cheese – 400 g;
tomatoes – 900 g;
olive oil – 40 ml;
onions – 4 pcs.;
hot pepper – 2 pods;
salt – 0.5 teaspoon;
garlic – 4 cloves;
Ground black pepper – 1 teaspoon.

Preparation:

Cut the onion into medium size cubes.
Cut half the amount of garlic into strips. The other one is to grate.
Peel the tomatoes and chop into large pieces.
Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add garlic strips, chili pepper and onion. Fry until the onion becomes transparent. If you don’t like spicy food, you can remove the pepper as soon as the onion is ready.
Add the tomatoes and simmer without closing the lid for 10 minutes.
Add the remaining garlic and cheese to the mixture. Spice up. Add salt. Simmer for three minutes.

Ricotta cheese salad recipe

Ingredients:

ricotta cheese – 400 g;
chicken fillet – 5 pcs.;
green salad – 50 g;
water – 5 tbsp. spoon;
white wine vinegar - 1 tbsp. spoon;
apple – 5 pcs.;
honey – 2 teaspoons;
olive oil – 10 tbsp. spoon;
grainy mustard - 2 tbsp. spoons;
ground black pepper
salt.

Preparation:

Wash the apples and cut into quarters. Remove seeds and core. Cut into slices.
Prepare the dressing. To do this, mix salt, water, honey, oil, mustard, vinegar and pepper.
Boil the chicken fillet. Cut into thin slices.
Mash the ricotta with a fork to form small pieces.
Tear the green salad leaves into pieces with your hands. Transfer to a bowl.
Add apples.
Place the next layer of cheese.
Drizzle with dressing.

Cheesecakes with ricotta

For lovers of ricotta and cheesecakes, this recipe is suitable. By replacing cottage cheese with cheese, you get a dish with a delicate consistency and amazing taste. Prepare simply and quickly.

Ingredients:

ricotta cheese – 500 g;
flour – 140 g;
sugar – 75 g;
vanilla sugar – 1 tbsp. spoon;
egg – 2 pcs.;
salt.

Preparation:

Beat eggs with salt and sugar.
In a bowl, mix cheese, flour and egg mixture.
Knead the dough. If it sticks to your hands too much, add more flour. Leave in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Roll the sausage.
Cut into 18 equal pieces.
Roll the cut round pieces in flour.
Fry in hot oil. It is tastier to use the olive component.
The cheesecakes should become golden brown.
Transfer to paper towel. It will absorb any remaining fat. After a couple of minutes, remove to a plate.

Ricotta cream cake

A delicious sponge cake with delicate, airy ricotta cream will decorate your holiday and surprise your guests with its exquisite taste.

Ingredients:

ricotta cheese – 1 kg;
flour – 150 g;
milk cream – 1 liter;
almond flakes – 100 g;
canned tangerines – 800 g;
sugar for cream – 300 g;
egg – 8 pcs.;
sugar for dough – 150 g;
canned pineapples – 500 g.

Preparation:

Beat eggs with enough sugar for dough.
Add flour. Beat with a mixer.
Bake a sponge cake.
Cut into five layers.
Drain the juice from the tangerine into a separate container.
Cut the pineapples into pieces.
Pour sugar and cream into a separate bowl. Beat.
Turn the mixer on low and gradually add the ricotta cheese with a spoon. You should get a homogeneous mass.
Sprinkle each cake with tangerine juice.
Coat the cake with cream and add pineapples. Place tangerines on the next coated cake layer. In this order, assemble the cake using all five layers.
Cover the finished cake with cream on all sides.
Cover the side of the cake with almond flakes. Decorate the top of the cake with tangerines.
Be sure to let it soak for four hours, or better yet, leave it in the refrigerator overnight.

Lemon-honey cheesecake

Cottage cheese adds sourness to the dish; replacing it with sweet ricotta will give you a rich, pleasant, delicate taste of the delicacy.

Ingredients:

ricotta cheese – 680 g;
mascarpone cheese – 450 g;
egg – 8 pcs.;
sugar – 280 g;
butter – 180 g;
biscuit cookies – 450 g;
honey – 150 g.

Preparation:

Before cooking, you need to prepare a springform pan. Wrap it in two layers of foil on the sides. It is better to use a mold with a diameter of 28 cm.
In a food processor, beat the cookies.
Melt the butter in a water bath or in the microwave.
Pour into the cookies and beat.
Distribute the mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. There should be no cookies on the edges.
Beat the ricotta.
Add mascarpone cream cheese with sugar. Beat.
Pour in the zest and add honey. Mix.
Beat in the eggs. Mix all ingredients.
Transfer the filling into the mold.
Take a mold with a diameter of 30 cm, pour hot water and place the prepared container with the cake in it. The liquid should cover the edges of the springform pan by half.
Bake in the oven for one hour.
When the cheesecake is cooked, the filling will be golden brown.
Leave to cool for an hour. Then put it in the refrigerator for 10 hours. The filling will harden and the delicacy will take the desired shape, which will be easy to cut.

Neapolitan Pastiera Pie

Every year, the residents of Naples prepare this delicious delicacy for the Easter holiday.

Ingredients:

flour – 600 g;
egg – 6 pcs.;
ricotta cheese – 1000 g;
baking powder - 2 teaspoons;
sugar – 250 g;
salt – 2 teaspoons;
candied lemon peel – 4 tbsp. spoons;
butter – 350 g;
orange zest – 2 tbsp. spoons;
ground cinnamon – 1 teaspoon.

Cream:

corn starch - 2 tbsp. spoons;
egg yolk – 8 pcs.;
milk – 500 ml;
vanilla sugar – 2 tbsp. spoons.

Preparation:

Add baking powder and salt to the sifted flour.
Cut 240 g of chilled butter into pieces. Transfer to flour and add 80 g of sugar.
Rub with your hands until it becomes bread crumbs.
Add 4 eggs. Stir.
Knead the dough for a long time, at least 10 minutes.
Cut the dough in half. Wrap in a bag. Leave in the cold for an hour.
Beat 4 yolks with the remaining sugar. Pour 6 tbsp. spoons of flour and starch. Beat.
Boil the milk.
While constantly stirring the egg mixture, pour in the milk. Place on the fire, boil and cook for one minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat, add remaining butter and vanilla sugar. Cool.
Beat the ricotta with the remaining sugar. Without turning off the mixer, pour in the cooled cream and 4 yolks.
Roll out the first half of the dough into a circle so that the diameter is seven centimeters larger than the diameter of the mold. Transfer to a baking dish. The dough should cover the entire bottom and edges. Cool for half an hour in the refrigerator.
Transfer the cream, spreading it evenly over the entire surface of the dough.
Roll out the remaining dough. Cut into 10 strips.
Place the strips on the dough using a wire rack, pinching the edges. Beat the yolk and brush the top of the pie.
Bake in the oven at 180 degrees. hour. Remove and cover with foil. Bake for another half hour.
Wait until it cools completely, then leave in a cool place for two hours.

If you decide to cook a dish that includes ricotta, but you don’t find this cheese on sale, you can safely replace it with other products, such as:

Cottage cheese. It is not as flexible as ricotta, low in calories, and contains less fat. Before adding to the dish, squeeze it to get rid of excess moisture.
Fromage blanc. This is a more expensive type of cheese, which has a consistency similar to yogurt.
Sour cream. It is an ideal substitute for ricotta when you need to make a sauce.
Tofu cheese. To make it look like ricotta, you need to squeeze it and beat it.
Buttermilk cheese. Ideal substitute for cheesecake and pasta fillings.
Goat cheese. Only freshly prepared cheese is suitable; old cheese cannot replace ricotta due to its strong taste.
Pot cheese. It resembles cottage cheese, just as loose and soft.
Mascarpone. Also classified as an Italian variety, it has a denser texture. Therefore, it must be shaken before use.
Cream cheese. It differs from ricotta only in fat content. This is the best option for replacement.
Paneer. The cheese comes from India and is a vegetarian product.

Therefore, if you have a problem buying ricotta cheese, you can easily replace it with one of these products.

Italian Ricotta cheese is often used to prepare various dishes: salads, lasagna, pizza, all kinds of desserts and many others. It is good both in combination with other products and as a rich dish.

Curious! Ricotta cannot definitely be called cheese, since this product is not made from milk, but from whey.

You can often hear that ricotta is a soft cheese, light cottage cheese or curd cheese. No matter what this product is called, it does not become less tasty. In addition to its taste, ricotta contains a large amount of vitamins and microelements that are good for health.

Fact! Ricotta has a slightly sweet taste due to the lactose it contains.

What can you replace ricotta with?

Although ricotta is not an expensive product, it is not always found on the shelves. What to do if the recipe has already been selected, but this ingredient cannot be found? In this case, the choice is not difficult to make, since there are more than enough alternative options.

Cottage cheese. It has a mild taste, which makes it similar to ricotta. However, cottage cheese is less plastic and contains less fat. This makes it a healthier substitute for cheese. Cottage cheese can be used as a substitute for ricotta to make the filling for lasagna or other dishes that require mild cheese.

Advice! In order to remove excess whey, the cottage cheese must be lightly squeezed before adding to the dish.

Sour cream. Sour cream is made by fermenting natural cream with lactic acid bacteria. Ricotta can be replaced with sour cream to make sauces. To tone down the sour cream flavor a little, you can add garlic, herbs, and various spices to the sauce. In addition, sour cream can be added to cream for cakes and desserts.

Fromage Blanc. A buttery cheese with a structure similar to yogurt. It has an interesting and unusual taste with a slight sweetness. It is very rare in stores due to its high cost. Ricotta can be substituted in desserts or as an addition to fruit. Can also be added to various sauces.

Tofu. Tofu cheese is obtained by pressing fermented soy milk. Before adding tofu to dishes, like cottage cheese, it must be squeezed out of excess whey and lightly blended with a blender to obtain a consistency similar to ricotta. Tofu is used to make lasagna, ravioli and various baked goods.

Interesting! Tofu is a popular product among vegetarians and people suffering from cow's milk intolerance. This cheese also has a high protein content with a small amount of fat and carbohydrates.

Mascarpone. Like ricotta, mascarpone originates from Italy. Mascarpone is a thick creamy mass with a pleasant creamy taste.

Buttermilk cheese. Mascarpone cheese, unlike ricotta, is quite fatty. Therefore, people watching their figure should limit its use. Mascarpone is usually added to various cakes and desserts. All kinds of sauces are made on its basis.

Cream cheese. This cheese is not often found on the store shelf. It has a mild taste with a slight sourness. In appearance it resembles a cream. Buttermilk cheese can replace ricotta in cheesecakes and as a topping for pasta.

Due to the fact that cream cheese has a soft, creamy structure, it can easily replace ricotta in various desserts and sauces. However, since ricotta is made only from milk and cream cheese is made from cream and milk, it has a higher fat percentage. Some manufacturers offer reduced-fat cream cheese for sale, but the taste of this product differs from the original. Goat cheese.

Fact! In appearance, this cheese is similar to Fromage Blanc. Goat cheese can be used in place of ricotta in desserts or as an accompaniment to fruit.

Paneer. The cheese comes from India. Paneer is very similar to ricotta not only in its appearance and bite, but also in the way it is made. It is produced by heating cow's milk and adding a small amount of lemon juice to it. Suitable for grilled dishes, as well as various fillings and desserts.

Interesting! Paneer is suitable for vegetarians as no rennet is added during its preparation.

How to make your own ricotta

If you couldn’t find ricotta in the store, and you can’t replace it with anything, you can cook it at home yourself.

To make ricotta there are several simple recipes:

Homemade ricotta recipe 1

A package of yogurt or full-fat kefir must be placed in the freezer until completely frozen. The colander is placed on the pan and covered with gauze.
After this, the package with yogurt or kefir needs to be cut and the contents placed in a colander. After the mass has melted, the whey will drain into the pan, and the curd mass will remain in the colander.
Then, the resulting mass should be squeezed out of the remaining whey and transferred to a resealable container.

Homemade ricotta recipe 2

To prepare ricotta you will need: pasteurized milk - 1 liter, cream 22% - 0.3 liters, salt - 1/2 teaspoon, juice of half a lemon. Mix milk, cream and salt in a saucepan. Then it is placed on low heat until it boils.
The mixture must be stirred periodically. After the mixture begins to boil, lemon juice is added to it. When the milk curdles and begins to separate from the whey, remove the pan from the heat and cover with a towel.
When the mass has cooled a little, it must be transferred to a colander covered with gauze and left for about an hour. During this time, the serum should disappear. In order to remove it completely, the mass should be squeezed out in gauze and transferred to a closed container.
For a richer taste, you can add even more parmesan, grated on a fine grater.

As you can see, you can easily replace ricotta with either store-bought products or homemade cheese. In any case, the finished dish will decorate the table.