Ciao a Tutti!

A new Monday means a new episode of Cooking with Nonna!  This week, we’ll be showcasing the most favored part of any meal -- you guessed it -- dessert!  Nonna Rosetta, from the region of Campania, is alongside me and she’ll be showing us how to make a staple of Italian dessert, the Ricotta Cheesecake.  This delectable Italian departure from the traditional cheesecake will always be found gracing family events and holidays, but as far as I’m concerned, you can make it any time and for any occasion (the more frequent, the better!)

What’s especially great about this ricotta cheesecake is it’s light and fluffy texture.  When cooked in the oven, the ricotta loses its normal, weighty characteristics, and transforms into an airy filling without sacrificing the soft, subtle flavors it is most known for.

The traditional cheesecake, a 500-year-old recipe, is a thick, creamy wonderland of flavor, but it will always lose out to its younger ricotta brother when it comes to capping off a meal in the healthiest way possible.  Better still, the top of the cheesecake serves as an edible blank canvas, waiting eagerly for decorations of fruit, powdered sugar, and any other topping you can spread, sprinkle, or ornament on top.

The Ricotta Cheesecake may be the easiest and quickest type of cheesecake to make, but learning from Nonna Rosetta made it the most enjoyable.  Her breezy, playful manner was only outshone by her sense of humor on camera.   I hope you have as much fun as I did when you make your ricotta cheesecake, and as Nonna Rosetta would say, “Have funny”.

Tanti Baci,

Rossella