What should I do with a tub of low-fat ricotta cheese?

Question

I shouldn't have bought the low-fat kind; I don't like it enough for a lasagna -- with all the effort and expense of a good pan of lasagna, it'd be cruel to ruin it with sub-par ricotta.

So I'm figuring I'll experiment with it; try something new and hope for something good enough to be made again with all the deliciousness of fat.

NB: vegetarian suggestions, please, though within reason -- if meat is a less-than-critical ingredient, I can figure out a way around it.

Stuff I have on hand: lots of cheeses (cheddars, mozza, feta, romano, parmigiano-reggiano, provolone, bocconcini) -- can I make a good dip of some sort? Leftover crepe batter, though ricotta + fruit in crepe is too obvious. Mushroom soup. Lettuce, tomatoes, onions; all the basic veg. Pasta, inc'l cannelloni, but -- 'too obvious.' English muffins. Chives. Loads of dried herbs & spices. Veg stock. Cream. Lentils. Dried porcini & oyster mushrooms..

No, you can't come over for dinner, though. Sorry about that part.

Re. 'stuff I have on hand' -- I may still go to the store; just there in case you see it and think 'ah, I'd take X and Y from that list and make...'

Answer 1

Spinach Ricotta Pie - most excellent, and if you add good mozzarella, you won't notice that the ricotta is low fat:

pre baked pie shell (follow directions on package)
1 tbs. butter or margarine
1 cup minced onion
1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 15 oz. container Ricotta cheese
2 eggs
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup freshly grated mozzerella or parmesan cheese (or both)

Thoroughly drain spinach, using hands to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Melt butter and fry onion until soft. Add spinach and stir until most of the moisture is gone. Remove from heat. In large bowl add all the other ingredients to the spinach and stir until mixture looks like green and white marble. Pour into baked pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for abut 40 minutes, or until top is golden and filling is set. You can add some sliced tomatoes to the top of the pie about 10 minutes before it is completely baked. It looks more attractive, and really does add to the flavor.

I use fresh spinach and you can make this without the pie shell -- comes out just fine.

Buon appetito!

Answer 2

Carrot & Ricotta Cannelloni

Ingredients

500 g carrots; peeled and cut into
1/2cm ( 1/4 inch) rounds (1lb)
1 500 gram tub ricotta cheese
1 salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 tubes dried cannelloni; (12 to 14)
1 300 g tub fresh tomato and mascarpone sauce
1 300 g tub four cheese sauce
40 g grated parmesan; (1 1/2oz)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200 C, 400 F

Boil the carrots in plenty of boiling salted water until cooked and soft, drain and cool, saving a cup of the cooking liquid.

Place the cooked carrots in a food processor with a little of the cooking liquid, blend on full power to a coarse paste approximately 15-20 seconds.

Place the ricotta in a bowl with the carrot mash and mix well, season if
necessary. Using a piping bag fill the cannelloni tubes with the mix until all the mixture is used up.

In a 1 litre (1 3/4 pint) ovenproof dish take 2-3 tablespoons of the cold cheese sauceand spread over the bottom of the dish, then arrange the cannelloni side by side until full.

Gently heat both sauces in separate pans. Pour one over half the cannelloni and then pour the other sauce cover the remaining half of the cannelloni. Sprinkle with parmesan, bake for approximately 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Answer 3

Make macaroni and cheese.
Take the ricotta, 2 cups shredded cheddar, 3/4 cup sour cream, 1 tbsp butter, and 2 cups milk, mix together over med. heat until melty. Mix with about 4 cups cooked noodles and bake at 350 for 30 mins. You can also add a few tbs grated onion before baking, if you like onion flavor.

Also- it is sooooo good to know there are other people out there that understand the importance of whole milk ricotta. My Italian family would just kill me if I ever used lowfat in a lasagna!

Answer 4

OOHH...you can make a dip out of it that tastes wonderful! Just add some feta, frozen drained spinach, sun dried tomatos or roasted red peppers (which ever you prefer) and garlic to the ricotta and put that on some Bruchette. Or get some nice italian bread, toast it, rub garlic on it and then top with the mixture. Oh it is heaven.

Answer 5

Here are a couple of good ideas. Personally, I like served on a slice of pineapple sitting on a lettuce leaf. cottage cheese pancakes This one is really delicious, especially with the addition of the recommended ingredients. 2-3 beaten eggs 1 cup cottage cheese Honey or a couple of teaspoons of sugar, to taste (a banana will make it naturally sweeter) 1 cup uncooked oatmeal Optional, highly recommended ingredients: banana a sprinkle of cinnamon a splash of vanilla Grab your handy blender and dump the ingredients in, in the order they appear (otherwise the mixture will get all chunky). So, eggs in first, then start the blender. As it's blending, pour in the cottage cheese, then the banana if you're using it, then whatever sweeteners and spices you like, then the oatmeal. Once this is nicely blended, cook as you would pancakes, in a nonstick pan over medium-low heat. I love these plain or with fruit, but you can put syrup on them too, just like regular tuna pasta 1/2 cup tuna and cottage cheese mix 1 cup chopped tomatoes 1 tbsp olive oil Mix and heat for a few minutes over medium heat, stirring often, till flavours combine. Toss with pasta and top with grated Parmigiana. For a variation, try adding salsa.

Answer 6

LOW-FAT CHEESE RAVIOLI

3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 ounce (about 1/4 cup) grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 egg
1 garlic clove, pressed
Pinch of ground nutmeg
24 pot-sticker or gyoza wrapper
Light Tomato Sauce
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Additional chopped fresh basil

Combine first 6 ingredients in medium bowl. Add salt and pepper. Place 1 rounded teaspoon of filling in center of gyoza wrapper. Brush edge of gyoza wrapper lightly with water. Fold wrapper in half, making sure all filling remains inside.. Seal edges by pinching. Move ravioli to baking sheet. Continue with remaining filling and wrappers. (Can be prepared up to 2 hours ahead; refrigerate.) Add salt to large pot of water. Bring to boil. Gently add ravioli to pot. Cook about 3 minutes until ravioli are tender, stirring gently. Using large slotted spoon, place ravioli into bowls. Pour sauce over ravioli. Sprinkle each with 1/2 tablespoon cheese. Garnish with additional basil and serve immediately.

Serves 4. Per serving: calories, 270; fat, 8 g; sodium, 444 mg; cholesterol, 75 mg

Answer 7

Ricotta is used more for texture than flavor in Lasagna. I use low fat Ricotta all the time instead of regular as I don't need the extra calories. The taste is no different.

Answer 8

you can make a yummie pate' style spread by simply mixing the same amount of ricotta and (baked) ham together (better if you do that with a hand blender) - depending on how thick you want it to be, you can add a bit of oil. Spread on toasted bread and serve with a glass of wine as an aperitif or simply as afternoon tea. What you can do, is make some crepes, then spread your ham pate', then roll your crepe and slice it into swirls and serve them on a bed of lettuce.

Answer 9

make a dip: Add rasberry jam, mix together and spread on crackers. Believe me, it is delicious, but I don't know why.

Answer 10

whatever you do, dont eat it - low fat cheese is nasty stuff....