Ricotta cheese

Ricotta is an Italian whey cheese. Ricotta, literally 'recooked'. It is produced from cows' or ewes' milk whey, the liquid separated out from the curds when cheese is made. The whey is heated to near boiling, forming a fine curd. Once cooled, the curd is separated by passing though a fine cloth.

Like mascarpone in northern-Italian cuisine, ricotta is a favourite component of many Italian desserts, such as cheesecakes and cannoli. There are also kinds of cookies that include ricotta as an ingredient.

In Italian households and dining establishments, ricotta is often beaten smooth and mixed with condiments, such as sugar, cinnamon and occasionally chocolate shavings, and served as a dessert. This basic combination (often with additions such as citrus and pistachios also features prominently as the filling of the crunchy tubular shell of the Sicilian cannoli, and layered with slices of cake in Palermo's cassata.

Ricotta is also used in dishes other than desserts. Most lasagna recipes, for instance, call for the use of ricotta.

Combined with eggs and cooked grains, then baked firm, ricotta is also a main ingredient in Naples' pastiera, one of Italy's many "Easter pies". Regional variations may be sweet or savoury.

See also

Calories in different varieties and various types of cheeses

The number of calories in various types of cheese is very similar when you compare your cheese to a similar types of cheese.

For example, almost cheeses that are similar to Cheddar cheese have around 400 calories per 100g

If the Ricotta cheese is not listed below, select a similar type of cheese from the list below to get a rough idea for the number of calories in Ricotta cheese.

The calorie lists are sortable by clicking the up and down arrows in the heading columns

Cheese type Calories per 100g
American cheese 371
Blue cheese 353
Camembert cheese 299
Cheddar cheese 402
Cottage cheese 98
Edam cheese 357
Farmer's cheese 98
Feta cheese 264
Fontina cheese 389
Goat cheese 364
Gouda cheese 356
Gruyere cheese 413
Mozzarella cheese 280
Parmesan cheese 431
Pimento cheese 375
Provolone cheese 352
Queso blanco cheese 310
Ricotta cheese 174
Roquefort cheese 369
Swiss cheese 380

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Errors and omissions

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