Baked Ricotta

By CheeseDiva

Serve warm for lunch with a little salad of baby lettuces or arugula. It has just enough egg to bind it so don’t expect it to puff like a soufflé. I add grated Parmigiano Reggiano for flavor, and you could fold in some sliced chives, garlic chives or a scraping of nutmeg. With a few olives and some thinly sliced salumi, it makes an unusual antipasto. It tastes much better warm than cold, and reheating would ruin it, so time your baking accordingly.

The texture is fluffier and more delicate than the machine-packed Calabro in lidded plastic tubs.

I’ll buy the machine-packed type for baking—I’m going to press it further anyway—and save the hand-packed cheese for other uses. In southern Italy, a few rural cheesemakers still drain their ricotta in reed baskets (pictured below); alas, the practice is illegal as authorities consider the method unsanitary.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds or two 15-ounce containers whole-milk ricotta
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs, beaten

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from us4.campaign-archive2.com

Preparation

Step 1

Line a large sieve or colander with a double thickness of cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Put the ricotta in the lined sieve, cover with cheesecloth, and set a plate with a weight (such a heavy can of tomatoes) on top of the ricotta to speed draining. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 375°F and position a rack in the upper third of the oven. Butter a 10-inch pie pan. In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta and Parmigiano Reggiano. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the eggs, mixing well. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan, spreading it evenly. Bake until puffed and lightly brown, 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool until warm, about 30 minutes, then cut into wedges to serve.