Leftover ricotta in the fridge? I've got just the recipe for you...

Sometimes we may have to halve a recipe if it makes too much for just us two or if the leftovers won't hold well for a couple days. This often leaves us with open containers of ingredients - we either end up tossing said ingredient or somehow try to use it up before it expires. We had this happen recently when we only used half a container of ricotta cheese - we used the first half it in a savory recipe, but decided to re-purpose the rest into a sweet treat for us.

Our adaptation of this Ricotta Cappuccino from Giada De Laurentiis made just enough for us two, but you could double the ingredients (using a whole 15 ounce container of ricotta instead) if you wanted to squeeze out 4 servings. The original recipe has you blend granulated sugar with a vanilla bean, but I always have a jar of vanilla sugar going in the pantry, so we just used that. Using just a few ingredients, the plain ricotta is transformed using a food processor into a sweet and luscious treat with the additions of the floral sugar, instant espresso powder, a few drops of vanilla, just a touch of cocoa power and a pinch of cinnamon.

Since the mixtures warms up a bit from being processed, the creamy concoction is divided between two glasses and placed in the refrigerator to chill and firm up a bit. Right before serving, a crumbled piece of biscotti is scattered over the top of both glasses to add a textural crunch against the soft ricotta. This has just enough sugar to move the ricotta into the dessert category, but not so much that it overtakes the delicate flavor - this turned into a delicious and a bit unusual way to use up that last little bit we had leftover.


I know exactly what I'm making the next time we have leftover ricotta... but who am I kidding? I think I would go ahead and buy a tub just to make this again!

Recipes
Ricotta Cappuccino