linnea, I made both ricotta and creme fraiche for the first time recently. Both turned out really well and best of all were uber-easy. I'll be interested in responses, too. I made lasagna with my ricotta, but my dh is a huge fan.

Oh boy, what a great decision to make!

I took a cheese making class a few years ago and made ricotta as well as mozzarella. I used the ricotta to make the lemon ricotta pancakes that were so popular here, posted by cookingrvc back in 2007. They were really good and I added blueberries.

LEMON-RICOTTA HOT CAKES
Adapted from the Four Seasons Hotel New York
Time: About 30 minutes

6 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Blackberries for garnish, optional.

1. Heat a griddle. Whip egg whites until they hold firm, glossy peaks, and set aside. Beat ricotta, butter, egg yolks and vanilla together, and set aside.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, salt and zest. With a rubber spatula, stir dry ingredients gently into the ricotta mixture. Stir a spoonful of whipped egg whites into the batter; then gently fold in the remainder.

3. Grease the heated griddle, if necessary. Drop 3 tablespoons of batter for each pancake on the griddle, allowing space for spreading. Cook until golden on the bottom and the top shows a bubble or two. Gently flip, and cook until undersides are light brown. Dust with powdered sugar. Top with berries, if desired.

Yield: About 20 small hot cakes.

Annie

Ricotta cheesecake sounds good to me.

Creamy Ricotta Cheesecake with Fresh Berries

⢠Cooking spray
⢠One 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese
⢠ý cup reduced-fat sour cream
⢠4 ounces Neufchâtel cheese (reduced-fat cream cheese), softened
⢠3 large eggs
⢠þ cup sugar
⢠ü cup all-purpose flour
⢠1 tsp. vanilla extract
⢠1 tsp. finely grated orange zest
⢠ü tsp. salt
⢠ü cup all-fruit seedless raspberry jam
⢠1 Tb. orange liqueur or water
⢠1 6-ounce container fresh raspberries
⢠1 6-ounce container fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray.

Place the ricotta in a mixing bowl or food processor, and beat with an electric mixer, or process, until smooth and creamy. Add the sour cream, Neufchâtel, eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla, orange zest and salt and continue to process or mix until well blended. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the center is just set, 50 to 55 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool, then cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before removing it from the pan. The cheesecake will be about 2 inches high.

In a small saucepan, bring the jam and liqueur to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Brush the cheesecake with the jam mixture and top with the berries, alternating one row of raspberries (flat side down), with two rows of blueberries. The cake should be stored in the refrigerator, where it will keep for 2 to 3 days.

Yield: 8 servings

Per serving: 300 calories, 39g carbohydrates, 12g protein, 12g fat (6g saturated), 2g fiber, 110mg cholesterol, 220mg sodium

Recipe reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Taunton Press Inc., from The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life, by Ellie Krieger. Copyright by Ellie Krieger.

My favorite pizza is topped with dollops of ricotta, fresh broccoli and sliced/chopped plum tomatoes.

All good suggestions....expect nothing but from these folks! The lemon ricotta pancakes sound divine! Somewhere around the house, I have a recipe for lemon ricotta cookies that was excellent. I'll see if I can dig it up.

Homemade ricotta is head and shoulders above anything store bought. I don't have a recipe but gnudis would be good (think naked ravioli). If you wanted to go pasta, make a good Bolognese and then make baked ziti with some ricotta blended in.

Yum!

Personally, I like it all by itself! This is why I don't make it at home.....very often.

Thanks for the suggestions! I liked the taste of it by itself, too. Whereas if I bought a carton (which always seems to be low fat offered), I would not want to eat that anymore than I want to eat low fat cottage cheese.

The crème fraiche we made the week before was good too. My classmate reported back that the stroganoff she made with it separated. I had read that crème fraiche does not separate like sour cream, but maybe she cooked it too high anyway. So far, I have only I served that with fajitas. My husband normally bypasses the sour cream for that, but the creme fraiche he really liked, and was loading it on. It was lighter tasting and did not dominate the other flavors.