Good morning friends, happy Monday! Today we make ricotta ice cream together. What do you think, doesn’t it seem like a lovely way to start the week? 😃😋

The Light and Tasty Team put me a little on the spot today, I must say! 😃 Choosing the right recipe wasn’t easy because… I didn’t know which recipe to pick! haha! I’d never had such an abundance of ricotta recipes to choose from before!
Ricotta for me is such a staple, so indispensable, always present in my fridge and so common in our diet, that this time not only did I not need to create a special recipe, but I actually had three already suitable and photographed recipes available! 😃

In the end I decided that ice cream would be the most fitting recipe for today. Firstly, because I topped this ricotta ice cream with strawberries, which are perfectly in season right now and are the fruit we eat most at this time of year, and also because I so want summer that an ice cream represents it perfectly!
Right now, as I’m writing this, the weather isn’t great — it’s raining. And I really need sun, light, warmth and a walk outside! Maybe while eating a nice refreshing ice cream. 🍦😋

So… despite the weather, I’ll make my ice cream at home! Keep me company and let’s make it together, and let’s enjoy a nice (and healthy) treat! 😋

〰〰〰

Looking for other ice creams? Or other recipes with ricotta? 😉👇

Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Budget-friendly
Preparation time: 25 Minutes
Portions: 4
Cooking methods: No-cook
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Spring, Summer

Ingredients

1 1/2 (about 350 g) cups ricotta
7 fl oz milk
5 fl oz heavy cream (for whipping)
1/2 (about 120 g) cup granulated sugar
1 packet vanillin
to taste fruit (as desired for the topping)

Tools

As I already mentioned in the blackberry and blueberry ice cream recipe, my ice cream maker (which I’ve had for over twenty years and still works great) is no longer in production. If you don’t have a self-cooling ice cream maker and want to browse a bit, here are a couple of machines similar to mine:

Ice cream maker Ariete self-cooling

Preparation

Briefly whip the cream together with the sugar and the vanillin. Not fully whipped but to a medium consistency.
Soften the ricotta with the milk, then fold it into the semi-whipped cream gently with a spoon or spatula.
Pour all the ingredients into a tall, narrow container (or a pitcher) that allows you to easily pour the mixture through the opening of your ice cream maker.
Depending on your ice cream maker, insert the freezing bowl or disc into the machine.
Pour the cream, milk and ricotta mixture through the opening of the ice cream maker and turn it on immediately.
The ice cream will be ready after 20 to 30 minutes depending on the program set.
My ice cream maker has soft-serve and firm-ice-cream programs; I usually use both: soft-serve at the beginning (faster paddle rotation) and firm-ice-cream after about ten minutes (slower rotation). For this reason the total time can vary, but there’s no problem because the ice cream is always ready when it becomes frothy and starts to pull away from the sides of the machine.
As soon as the ice cream is ready, serve it immediately or within 15-20 minutes of production, keeping it in the ice cream maker in the meantime (covered with a lid or a plate).
Delicious on its own, this ricotta ice cream is also wonderful with raisins or small fruit pieces (add them to the machine during the last minutes of operation when the ice cream is almost ready).
But we like using fruit as a garnish, especially strawberries, as shown in the photos for this recipe,
or with strawberry sauce, a very fragrant and simple sauce to make, which you can find described –>here.
For other fruit toppings, check the recipes for pancakes with strawberries and cherries and blackberry and blueberry ice cream, which I highly recommend trying. 😋😉 Also, since cherries are coming into season… don’t miss trying them like in this recipe!
Storage: Homemade ice creams, like this ricotta ice cream, without stabilizers are at their best when eaten immediately. You can, however, freeze the ice cream right after production by placing it in a lidded food container. When ready to serve, leave it at room temperature for about ten minutes and stir with a spoon to restore its creaminess.