I can't find arugula or mascarpone?

Question

I have a recipe that I want to try out and it calls for arugula and mascarpone but I can't find either in my grocery store. What if anything can I use as a subsitute?

Answer 1

I think that sugarpie was refering to radicchio rather than arugula. Arugula is a green leafy veggie with a slightly peppery flavor to it. Mascarpone is an Italian type of cream cheese. As far as subs go I've used spinach in place of arugula on a couple of occasions. You can use cream cheese to replace the mascarpone but the texture will be a bit different. Also mascarpone is a little bit sweeter tasting than regular cream cheese.

Answer 2

Arugula is a purple/white lettuce w/ a bite to it. It's usually mixed in w/ field greens. If you can find a groceyr store that has a loose pile of filed greens for sale, you can go thru and pick out the arugula. Most gourmet-type grocery stores sell it too.

As for marscapone cheese, look in the fresh cheese section. It's usually w/ the ricotta and cottage cheeses in a plastic container w/ snap-on lid. Again, it may warrant a trip to a specialty or upscale grocery.

As far as subs... it depends on the recipe. For a salad, you can use any sturdy lettuce for the arugula. For the marscapone, MAYBE ricotta, but the texture will be off. Hold out 'til you can find the real McCoy.... JMHO.

HTH

Answer 3

Sugar Pie is wrong. What she is describing is probably raddichio. Arugula is a nutty flavored green. Although it has a distinct flavor of its own, you could probably get away with substituting spinach


I just found this recipe for homemade Marscapone on the internet:

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese (reg not low fat)
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 TBSP sour cream (not low fat or fat free)

Beat with mixer until smooth and creamy.

That being said, I'd still probably wait until I could get the real ingredients.

Answer 4

if all stores fail, find a food distributer: they will surley have it, hope this helps.