What to do with Ricotta?

[snowdragon]

A friend made some Ricotta cheese, and gave me some, but I am at a loss as to what to do with 5lbs of ricotta cheese. I've done baked ziti and lasagna and still have a good deal with cheese. ideas anyone?

[Daffydilly]

stuffed pasta noodles
ragoons
stuffed pitas with a salad type stuffing

[NyaChan]

Cheesecake
Pancakes (with lemon, blueberries, or other fruits is really good)
Pizza topping

[Shopaholic]

Send me some!!!
I could eat ricotta with a spoon.

It's good in cheesecake because it has that great, creamy texture but is really low fat.
Martha Stewart has some great ricotta-based vegetarian lasagnas (with squash, spinach or zucchini).
Mixed with yogurt in egg salad - better than mayo!

Whatever you do - use it up fast, ricotta tends to go bad really quick.

[oz diva]

Personally I'd chuck it out, that stuff is tasteless. 

[cicero]

it's really good in cheesecake.

i just eat it with a spoon or in salad

[Nikko-chan]

use it as a pasta sauce. put ricotta and any other seasonings you like in the bottom of a big bowl, add a bit of pasta water to thin it out, and then add the pasta on top and mix it through to make a pasta sauce.

[sourwolf]

I love it with lemon zest, a little lemon juice and honey.

[buvezdevin]

Lasagna and stuffed pasta shells are especially yummy with extra ricotta, and you can freeze for later use, so you don't get tired of ricotta goodness (though, I have never reached such a state).

POD the cheesecake suggestions.

Or blintzes if you want something a bit more involved, those also freeze well.

[Hmmmmm]

Ricotta pancakes
Spinach ricotta souffle

[magicdomino]

The South Beach diet recommends flavored and sweetened ricotta for dessert.  A little lemon zest and  a spoonful of lemon juice, and you have lemon "pudding."  Or you can do almond extract and a sprinkle of slivered almonds.  I believe there was a "chocolate" version with cocoa, garnished with 4 or 5 chocolate chips; I'm not sure how well that would work.  You are supposed to use artificial sweetener, but if you choose real sugar or honey, I won't tell.   

[Mikayla]

I love ricotta.  And along the line of blintzes, I have a created recipe that's a takeoff on IHOP's cheese blintzes.  If you can do an omelette in a small non-stick pan (they're easy) let it get cooked and then spoon the ricotta in there.  Fold over and serve with cherry or strawberry preserves.  Yum-ness.

I also love stuffing mushrooms with ricotta.  This one is very similar to the one I make, but I don't use sun dried tomatoes.  http://www.italianfoodforever.com/2009/09/ricotta-stuffed-mushrooms/

If all else fails, put some choco chips in it and roll in a tortilla that's been fried in canola oil and then buttered with a little brown sugar.

[Yvaine]

Send me some!!!

THIS! Except send it to me!

[WillyNilly]

A tasty snack/dessert:

A big dollop of ricotta, sprinkled with cinnamon, topped with chopped almonds and drizzled with honey.  Omigosh so freaking tasty!

In general you can use ricotta in most baking, just remove some other moist ingredient (like less milk, or eggs, or oil) and sub in ricotta.

A quiche made with eggs, broccoli or spinach, shredded cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, Parmesan, etc) and a good dollop of ricotta will come out super yummy.

[snowdragon]

Thank you all. I think I have enough that I can try all of these.