Category Archives: ricotta

Lemon-blueberry individual baked cheesecakes

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Serves 4

300g fresh ricotta*
170g tub of Chobani Lemon flavoured Greek yoghurt
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tbs honey**
100g blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 180C. Place all ingredients except blueberries in a bowl and with an electric mixer, beat on low speed until well combined. Increase speed to high and beat for a further minute or so until quite smooth. You can use a food processor if you prefer.

Gently stir blueberries through with a spoon. If you’re using frozen berries, defrost them first and then drain off any liquid before adding them. Divide the mixture evenly between four ovenproof ramekins or individual soufflé dishes. Place the dishes into a baking dish and carefully pour in enough water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes.

Bake for 25-30 minutes –they should be beginning to brown slightly on top and be firm to touch in the centre. Allow to cool in the baking dish, then refrigerate for at least a couple of hours.

Serve in the dishes with extra blueberries on top and some honeyed Greek yoghurt in a small dish on the side.

You can oil the ramekins first and attempt to turn the cheesecakes out onto plates, but I find that sometimes it works, and sometimes I end up with a disaster…so I don’t bother any more.

*I used full fat ricotta because I prefer the texture and taste, but you could switch in low-fat if you’d rather.
**If you prefer, you could use a couple of teaspoons of Natvia or other sweetener in place of the honey. It won’t taste the same though.

Nutrition stats per serve:
Calories 192
Protein 11.5g
Carbs 15.1
Fat 9.6

I’m participating in screen-free week, so I’m not really here (shh…). All of my posts this week have been written in advance and set to publish each day for your information and entertainment. ;o)

 

Strawberry baked cheesecake

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Yes, I’m still on a cheesecake kick. I had some ricotta in the fridge that needed to be used up, and I fancied trying a new variation of my baked ricotta cheesecake. The end result tasted good, but the texture isn’t as smooth as the other versions, thanks to the fruit in this one.


Serves 1-2

80g fresh ricotta
100g low fat creamed cottage cheese
1 egg white
1 teaspoon of Xylitol or Splenda
2 large strawberries, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon of Natural Health strawberry Flavour Booster*

Blend ricotta and cottage cheese till smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend till well mixed. Spoon mixture into a greased ramekin or other suitable container and bake at 180C for around 25-35 minutes.

I used a silicone muffin pan for this, and divided the mixture into 3 – it worked quite well, but you need to reduce the cooking time. Check after 15-20 minutes. Note: if you’re using a 6-hole muffin pan and only filling 3, you need to half-fill the other holes with water, or your pan will heat unevenly, resulting in burnt edges on your puddings.

*Natural Health flavour boosters are available from some health food stores. You could substitute strawberry-flavoured Quik or other milk flavouring, or perhaps strawberry topping, as long as you don’t mind adding extra sugar to the end result.

Chocolate souffle omelette with ricotta-strawberry filling

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Dessert or breakfast? Your choice.

Serves 1

4 egg whites
30g chocolate whey protein
1/2 – 1 tsp cocoa
45g ricotta
40g thick natural yoghurt
1 tsp strawberry jam
4-6 strawberries, sliced

Place ricotta, yoghurt and jam in a small bowl, beat with a fork till smooth. Fold sliced strawberries through and set aside.

Beat egg whites with an electric mixer till soft peaks form. Mix whey powder and cocoa together, then carefully fold into the egg whites, trying not to break down the mixture too much (it will sink and lose some thickness anyway, but be gentle). Heat a small non-stick pan, spray with cooking spray and pour eggwhite mixture into the pan. Cook over a low-medium heat until the bottom is beginning to brown (lift an edge carefully to check).

Place under a pre-heated griller for 2-3 minutes until the omelette is cooked through, but still soft, watching carefully that it doesn’t burn. Slide onto a plate, spread the ricotta mixture carefully over one half with a spoon, and fold the omelette in half.

This would be great with fresh raspberries, but they’re a bit pricey at this time of year for my liking. To make it more indulgent, you could use melted dark chocolate, and even some liqueur, perhaps with an egg yolk. Just mix together and fold the egg whites into that.

Coffee cheesecake

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This is a variation of my cheesecake for one recipe.

Serves 1

2 tbs strong espresso
2 heaped tsp Jarrah Vienna flavoured coffee
60g ricotta
40g low fat creamed cottage cheese
1 tsp Xylitol

Preheat oven to 180C and spray a 1-cup capacity ovenproof ramekin with cooking spray. Dissolve the Jarrah instant coffee in the espresso, allow to stand until cold. If you’re impatient, stand the cup or bowl containing the coffee in a larger bowl with some iced water in it.

Blend ricotta, cottage cheese and Xylitol in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add coffee mixture and blend again till well mixed. Pour into the ramekin and place it into a cake tin or similar-sized container. Fill the tin with boiling water to about halfway up the sides of the ramekin and bake for 25-30 minutes until set. Allow to cool before turning out onto a serving plate.

Note: my cheesecakes are a funny shape because, since we’re between houses, we didn’t bother unpacking a lot of our “stuff” when we moved here …..including anything resembling a ramekin. So I improvised and baked them in a milk jug. Meh. Whatever works….

Cheesecake for one

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I had a hankering for ricotta today, and was inspired to make something a little different to my usual ricotta-on-raisin-toast for afternoon tea. This was a treat!


Serves 1

60g ricotta
40g creamed cottage cheese
1 egg white
1-2 tsp Xylitol or other granular sweetener
Lemon juice to taste

Preheat oven to 180C. Place all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor or blender and blend till smooth. Spray an ovenproof ramekin or other suitable container (about a 1-cup capacity) with cooking spray. Pour the mixture into the prepared ramekin and place into a cake tin. Fill the tin with boiling water to about halfway up the sides of the ramekin. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until firm. Remove from the water and allow to cool. Refrigerate till required, then turn out onto a serving plate.

Serve with strawberries or other fruit, and some syrup or warmed jam.

If you like your desserts super-sweet, you may need to increase the Xylitol.

Strawberry-ricotta blintz

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Dessert…. or (if you’re me), perhaps breakfast.


Serves 2

70g Woolworths buckwheat pancake mix
20g vanilla whey powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup water

50g smooth low fat ricotta
About 8-12 strawberries, sliced
2 tsp strawberry jam

Mix ricotta, strawberries and jam together, put aside. Mix pancake mix and whey in a bowl, add water slowly and mix well. Add vanilla and beat the mixture until smooth. The batter needs to be runny.

Spray a non stick pan with cooking spray and heat. Pour half the batter into the pan, tilting to allow it to spread into a large, thin pancake. Cook over medium heat until just beginning to brown underneath then carefully flip and cook the other side.

Place the pancake on a plate and spoon half the ricotta mixture into the centre. Fold the edges in, envelope-style and place join side-down in a shallow baking dish. Repeat with the remaining batter and ricotta mixture. Bake at around 170C for 10 minutes or so.

Serve topped with a tablespoon of Easiyo berry squeeze or other fruit sauce.