Good morning friends, happy Monday! Today we are making ricotta ice cream together. What do you think, doesn’t it sound like a great way to start the week?

😃😋

The Light and Tasty Team has given me a bit of a challenge today, I must say! 😃 Choosing the right recipe wasn’t easy because… I didn’t know which recipe to choose! haha! It has never happened to me before to have such an abundance of ricotta recipes to choose from!

Ricotta is such a staple, so indispensable, always present in my fridge and so frequent in our diet, that this time (and strangely for my standards!) I not only didn’t need to prepare a specific recipe, but I had three “potential” recipes already available and photographed! 😃

In the end, I decided that an ice cream was the most suitable recipe for today. First, because I had garnished this ricotta ice cream with strawberries, which are as in-season as they can be and are the fruit we eat the most at this time, and then because I have such a yearning for summer that ice cream represents me perfectly!
At this moment, right while I’m writing, the weather isn’t the best, it’s raining. And instead, I am in great need of sun, light, warmth, and going for a walk! Maybe eating a refreshing ice cream in the meantime!

So… defying the weather, I’ll make my own ice cream at home!
Keep me company, and let’s make it together. And let’s have a nice (and healthy) feast! 😋

👇 Other ice creams? Other ricotta recipes? 😉 👇

Difficulty: Very Easy
Cost: Economical
Preparation time: 25 Minutes
Portions: 4
Cooking methods: No Cooking
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Spring, Summer

Ingredients

12 oz ricotta
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
1 packet vanillin
as needed fruit (to taste for 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 beautifully) is no longer in production, so, in case you don’t own a self-refrigerating ice cream maker and wish to browse a bit, I am linking below a couple of ice cream makers similar to mine:

Ice Cream Maker Ariete self-refrigerating

Preparation

Briefly whip the cream with the sugar and vanillin. Not fully whipped but to medium consistency.
Soften the ricotta with the milk, then combine it with the semi-whipped cream, mixing gently with a spoon or spatula.
Pour all ingredients into a narrow, tall container (or a jug) that allows you to easily pour the mixture through the opening of the ice cream maker.
Depending on the type of ice cream maker, insert the disc or refrigerating bowl into the ice cream maker.
Pour the cream, milk, and ricotta mixture through the opening of the ice cream maker and start it immediately.
The ice cream will be ready after 20 or 30 minutes depending on the program set.
My ice cream maker has soft ice cream and firm ice cream programs, I usually use both programs, that is, soft ice cream at the beginning (faster paddle rotation) and firm ice cream after about ten minutes (slower rotation). For this reason, the preparation time may vary, but there’s no problem because in any case the ice cream is always ready when it becomes fluffy and detaches from the walls of the ice cream maker.
Once ready, serve the ice cream immediately or within 15-20 minutes of production, keeping the ice cream inside the ice cream maker (covered with a lid or a plate) in the meantime.
Delicious on its own, this ricotta ice cream is also excellent enriched with raisins or pieces of fruit (to be added to the ice cream maker during the last minutes of processing when the ice cream is almost ready).
But we like to use fruit as a garnish, especially we like it with strawberries, as photographed for this recipe,
or with strawberry sauce, a very fragrant sauce that is simple to make, which you can find described –>here.
For other fruit toppings, I refer you to the recipes for pancakes with strawberries and cherries and blackberry and blueberry ice cream, which I highly recommend you try. 😋😉 Also, since cherries are coming… don’t miss trying them like this as in this recipe!
Storage: homemade ice creams, like this ricotta ice cream, are best consumed immediately as they do not contain thickeners. However, you can freeze the freshly made ice cream by placing it in a lidded food container. When you want to eat it, leave it at room temperature for about ten minutes and stir with a spoon to restore its creaminess.