Around the world in... all things ricotta

Separating the curds and whey.

Pea, mint, and haloumi pide Source: Tammi Kwok

Ricotta may have started in Puglia, but its deliciousness has spread whey further than that. Well, actually, not that far really. Ricotta dishes tend to stick around Italy and Europe, with a side trip to India, Morocco and long-haul to Argentina (basically wherever Italians migrated).

So while we won't be travelling the whole world to get our ricotta fix today, we will be travelling with full bellies and all the comfort that a good ricotta dish brings.

Italy

Let's start where ricotta began and linger awhile. These dishes surely confirm good eating is often found unexpectedly, or in ricotta's case, in the discards of provolone making curds.

Ricotta crostata

Ricotta crostata is cheesecake, Roman-style. Source: Paola Bacchia

This Roman tart is traditionally made for Easter and it showcases exactly why ricotta is such a revered ingredient. It creates a creamy bed in which other flavours like orange and chocolate blossom.

Rainbow ricotta gnocchi

Ricotta knows how to party. Source: Tom Reynolds / Michela's Tuscan Kitchen

Using ricotta instead of potato in your gnocchi makes for a lighter, more flavoursome pasta. The rainbow colours created in this dish bring out ricotta's fun side.

Baked zucchini flowers

Zucchini flowers taste especially good when stuffed with ricotta and roasted until soft and creamy. Source: Jono Fleming

Nothing stuffs a zucchini flower quite as well as ricotta. Its mild flavour means it mixes so well with other flavours - here anchovy punches and mint revives.

Spicy sausage and ricotta pasta

Try dolloping ricotta on top of any pasta dish - you won't be sorry. Source: Bonacini's Italy

Calabrians love their ricotta, especially when it provides a soft note in a spicy pasta dish. Ricotta melts down to a creamy sauce that balances even the hottest nduja.

Ricotta and lemon ice-cream

Gelato di ricotta e limone will whip you straight to a Venice piazza. Source: Paola Bacchia

If you want your gelato to taste like lemon cheesecake, slide some ricotta into the mix.

Sweet ricotta tart

Nothing showcases ricotta in quite the same way as this tart. Source: Armelle Habib

This ricotta tart puts our favourite soft cheese squarely in the spotlight. It's every bit as creamy and delicate as you'd imagine, but with added chocolate and candied fruit bite.

Ricotta spinach cannelloni

Spinach and ricotta are one of Italy's bacon-and-egg matches. One is always better with the other. Source: Wok Vs Pot with Marion and Silvia

We couldn't possibly leave Italy without a nod to ricotta's role in a good cannelloni bake. It's the stuff Italian dreams are made of (well, that a week driving a Fiat along the Amalfi Coast).

France

Naturally, the French will be onto a good foodie thing, so ricotta features in many French desserts. This is especially true for dishes from south-eastern France, which was once occupied by Italy.

Ricotta, orange, chocolate and pastis tart

The combination of ricotta, orange and chocolate is a classically Mediterranean one. Source: The French Baker

Ricotta does oh-so-well in a tart, as this French offering confirms. Orange is a delightful and very common flavour added to ricotta in Provence, where oranges are added to just about everything.

Herbed ricotta soufflé omelette

Brunch en plein air, anyone? Source: Alan Benson

Add some indulgent creaminess to your light-as-air soufflé by folding through ricotta before baking. It also adds robustness to the dish, making it perfect for picnic soufflés.

Corsican pie with zucchini flowers

This recipe calls for brocciu, a fresh young white cheese made with goat’s or ewe’s milk that's produced on the island of Corsica. Ricotta is decidedly easier to find at the local shops. Source: Jonathan Lovekin

A French take on the favoured Italian ricotta and spinach combo, this rustic pie demands greens and plenty of them. Think sage, parsley, mint, celery leaves, silverbeet, or whatever wild greens you can get your hands on.

Germany

Just a quick stopover in Germany so we can indulge in a strudel.

Weichselstrudel

The recipe mentions that you can substitute quark for ricotta, but why on earth would you? Source: Brett Stevens

These jammy sour cherry and ricotta strudels are worth the side trip. They’re sprinkled with sugar and flaked almonds, then baked until golden.

Greece

A nation to rival Italy for its love of ricotta is a must-see on our trip. Greece may be mostly about feta, but mixing it with ricotta is popular in many dishes.

Spanakopita

It's the filo layers that make spanakopita so memorable, but it would be nothing without its cheesy filling. Source: Sharyn Cairns

Spanakopita is perhaps Greece's most famous use of ricotta of all. It's that spinach-ricotta pairing again, this time mixed with feta and encased in layers of buttery filo pastry.

Cretan meat pie

Not your average footy pie. Source: One World Kitchen

It's a meat pie, but not as you know it. A Cretan-style pie features yoghurt in the dough for a tangy touch, and ricotta and kefalotyri cheese in the filling, for a deliciously creamy finish.

Sesame cheesecake

Do not miss this Greek take on cheesecake - it adds sesame, orange, cinnamon, vanilla and honey to taste like a trip to Crete. Source: Chris Chen

While a traditional sesame cheesecake is made with myzithra, fresh cheese can be hard to come by in Australia. Fortunately, ricotta makes an excellent substitute.

India

There are a surprising number of Indian recipes that call on ricotta. Which makes us happy because a trip to India is always a treat.

Ricotta and potato koftas

The fluffy ricotta and potato filling is encased by a crisp golden shell that dunks perfectly into a spiced, tomato-based kofta sauce, Source: Alan Benson

Potato and ricotta are almost as dear friends as ricotta and spinach. As these kofta know so well, they combine to form a creaminess that balances spices so well.

Cheat’s rasmalai

Ricotta balls in a fragrant, spiced milk make for an excellent cheat's rasmalai. Source: Quadrille

Ricotta is often used as a paneer 'cheat' in Indian desserts and snacks (see also the koftas recipe above). In its authentic form rasmalai is made from spongy balls of paneer that have been cooked and soaked in sugar syrup. In this form, ricotta makes the whole thing super easy.

Ricotta gulab jamun with saffron syrup

These Indian doughnuts, known as gulab jamun, are soaked in a sugar syrup until they double in size. Source: China Squirrel

Ricotta and semolina balls lap up a saffron syrup until they're double in size. Adding ricotta keeps the balls from becoming too dense, resulting in a light, spongy, but still crisp, texture.

The Middle East

The way ricotta soaks up flavours makes it the perfect bed for Middle Eastern spices to lounge in.

Katayef with dates and ricotta

These lightly yeasted and filled pancakes are traditionally filled with either a cream or walnut filling - but filling with both is nice as well. Source: Huda AlSultan

Katayef are heavenly pockets stuffed with ricotta and delicious Arabian fillings. Serve them lightly drizzled with sweet maple syrup.

Ricotta pide

Ricotta 'melts' surprisingly well, forming a golden crust that adds texture to its creaminess. Source: Tammi Kwok

Who can resist a Turkish pide stuffed with ricotta, haloumi, mint and peas? Not us.

Knafeh

It's an unusual combo, but it works a treat. Source: Andrew Dorn

Knafeh is a beautiful and intriguing Middle Eastern dessert made with stringy kataifi pastry coated with ghee and ricotta and baked layered with mozzarella. Sugar syrup is poured generously over the whole lot.

Argentina

Sicilian immigrants brought ricotta delicacies to Argentina in the mid 19th century. Pasta houses sprang up across the country to cater for the immigrants and pasta for Sunday lunch was embraced by all.

Baked ricotta cake

This ricotta tart is one of the most beloved desserts in Argentina. Source: Rachel Tolosa Paz

The Argentinian take on a traditional Italian baked ricotta cake takes a few cues from an American-style baked cheesecake to become a little bolder. It's creamy, lemony and sweet enough to want a second helping.

Sorrentinos

This recipe uses a fresh ricotta and ham filling, with just a touch of nutmeg to add a woody sweetness. Source: Rachel Tolosa Paz

Sorrentinos are Argentina's take on Italian ravioli, but larger and more circular. This means there's more room to stuff them full of ravioli and ham.

Morocco

We're flying all over the place here, but one last stop in Morocco is a must.

Garam masala bastilla

This colourful, pretty dish makes an exceptional dinner party main for both vegos and non-vegos alike. Source: Manja Wachsmuth

This rich vegetarian take on a medieval ‘greyte pye’ relies on the ricotta to balance some seriously spicy spices.

Medfouna

Medfouna is traditionally stuffed with meat, but ricotta, herbs and vegetables make an excellent vegetarian version. Source: Tammi Kwok

This Moroccan stuffed bread recipe can easily be adapted to suit your taste as the dough works as a delicious casing for many types of fillings. None are quite as good as ricotta and preserved lemons, though. Just sayin'.