Baked Ricotta Casserole – Tender Italian Cheese Bake Recipe

Step-by-step recipe

1. For a tasty and tender ricotta bake you need really fresh cheese. Most stores carry a high-quality imported product in 250-500 g packs – check the best-before date. To thicken the mixture we use corn starch and eggs. You can make the mixture with regular 2.5-3.2% milk or with cream, but then the dish will have more calories.
   
2. Open the cheese tubs and transfer the cheese to a deep bowl. It is convenient to mix the batter with a mixer on low speed – you get a smooth, even mixture. Beat the cheese until smooth. Add 1-2 tbsp of sugar – that is to taste, you can skip the sugar altogether. Also add lemon zest or some flavoring – rum, lemon, vanilla. Mix the ricotta again.
   
3. Pour in half a cup of milk or cream. Stir, then crack the eggs into the mixture. If you want a firmer bake, use three eggs instead of two. Mix thoroughly until completely smooth. If needed, add a little more vanilla or lemon zest to mask the taste of the egg yolk. Add the corn starch – two heaped tablespoons to start. Stir the mixture. It should have the consistency of thick sour cream. Add a little more starch if needed.
   
4. By the way, if you want the ricotta bake to have a pleasant yellowish color, add a tiny bit of food coloring. All that is left is to pour the mixture into a pan and put it in the oven. A silicone cake pan is very handy for baking ricotta – the delicate bake comes away from the sides with no trouble at all. Grease the inside of the pan with butter and pour in all of the mixture.
   
5. A silicone pan is very soft and does not hold its sides well, which can make the delicate bake tear. So before pouring in the mixture, I usually set the soft pan inside a glass baking dish of a suitable size. It works perfectly. Preheat the oven to 180°C and put the pan with the mixture in it. Baking time depends a lot on the volume. For this amount of ingredients it takes 40-45 mins. Go by how much the surface of the bake wobbles. If needed, bake longer, making sure the bottom and sides do not start to burn.
   
6. Take the finished bake out of the oven. Carefully loosen it from the sides of the pan with a small knife – it is unlikely to stick, but better safe than sorry. Cover the pan with a wooden board or a large flat plate and turn it over. Tap lightly on the bottom of the pan so the bake settles neatly onto the plate, then lift off the pan.
   
7. Dust the top with powdered sugar – put a little sugar in a small sieve and tap it to spread it over the surface, it sifts easily. As I said, it is better not to cut the bake with a knife – it will squash and crack. A cheese wire works perfectly; we use one to cut soft cheese. We usually make this dish for four servings. Cut the bake and put the pieces on plates.
   
8. If you like, dust it with more powdered sugar. It is exceptionally good drizzled with caramel sauce – it takes just a few minutes to make and goes very well with it. Decorate the top of the dessert with fresh berries or fruit slices before serving. Some people add a pinch of cinnamon or cocoa powder. I recommend serving it with a cappuccino or warm milk – you will love it.