I am a little late to the ricotta party. For a long while, this Italian whey cheese has been relegated solely to lasagnas and other filled pasta dishes. Aside from that, ricotta has not played a role in much of my cooking. This is likely due to unfortunate first impressions, the ho-hum results of part-skim varieties that tend to be watery, grainy, and lacking in character.
More recently, however, I began dabbling in using fresh ricotta, and it’s been revelatory. The difference between a skimmed and watered-down version versus a high-quality whole-milk ricotta or a hand-dipped artisan ricotta (besides a few extra dollars) is a worlds-apart creamy, sweet, and milky cheese, urging consumption. To which I obliged, and started experimenting with different recipes. And then I whipped it.
