Ricotta Meatballs

There are many ricotta meatball recipes. Next, we offer you some of the richest and easiest to do. Plus, we show you how to make your own ricotta cheese at home in no time. Take note!

Ricotta meatballs

Ingredients:

• 500 grams of ricotta.
• Bread soaked in milk.
• 2 large eggs.
• 100 grams of semolina.
• 100 grams of grated cheese.
• Salt, pepper, nutmeg, basil, parsley (optional).
• 1 clove of minced garlic (optional).

The elaboration is carried out as follows:

• First, mix together the ricotta, milk-soaked bread, eggs, semolina, and grated cheese.
• Then add the spices to your liking.
• Finally, coat the meatballs in flour and cook them in water.

Ricotta meatballs with spinach

Spinach is the “queens of beta carotene”, rich in vitamin A and excellent for preventing heart disease.

Ingredients:

• 500 grams of ricotta.
• 60 grams of cornstarch.
• Swiss chard or cooked spinach.
• 1 egg.
• Chopped parsley or basil.
• Nutmeg and white and / or black pepper (optional).
• 1 clove of minced garlic (optional).
• Flour.

The elaboration is carried out as follows:

• First, you mix all the ingredients in a bowl and make balls (except the flour).
• Then, you pass them through flour.
• Finally, you boil them in water.

Sauces for your meatballs

These meatballs support many types of sauces. We show you some of them:

• Bechamel sauce. Make your bechamel as usual and then gratin your meatballs in the oven with grated cheese.
• Tomato sauce. You can make it with a sauce of onion, pepper, carrot, garlic and crushed tomato. Then add a little oregano or a bay leaf and white wine.

• Garden sauce. Make a sauce with onion, garlic, green pepper, red pepper, and potatoes. Then add water, a bay leaf, and black peppercorns. Finally, let the sauce cook for a while and add your ricotta meatballs.
• With a drizzle of olive oil. You can serve them without sauce, just with a drizzle of olive on top.
• Swedish style. Swedish meatballs (meat) are usually accompanied with a bit of berry jam, mashed potatoes and some cooked peas.

Make your own homemade ricotta cheese

And it is that ricotta is used in countless recipes: cheesecakes, quiches and tortillas, cannelloni and lasagna etc. If you are excited and want to make your own ricotta cheese, we will show you the recipe. It is super easy to do.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 liter of whole or skimmed milk.
• 200 ml of liquid cream.
• 1 tablespoon and a half (soup) of extra quality white vinegar.
• 1 teaspoon salt.

Preparation mode:

• First, heat the milk with the cream and salt.
• When it starts to boil, remove it from the heat and add the vinegar, stirring until it dissolves completely.
• You will see that 5 minutes after adding the vinegar, the milk begins to cut and  clump. That is good.
• Then, pass it through a strainer with a special gauze to drain serum.
• Then let it drain for at least an hour.
• From then on you can use it. However, if you are not in a hurry, it is best to let it drain with the strainer in the fridge for about 8 hours.

Note: Ricotta cheese does not last long fresh, so use it as soon as possible. If you see that it has gone from white to yellow, do not take it.

Alternatives to ricotta cheese

You may not find ricotta cheese in the area where you live or you want to change the recipe with another type of similar cheeses. In that case, we show you the best substitutes you can find:

The cottage cheese. The main difference between the two is the texture. While ricotta cheese is usually dry and grainy, cottage cheese is more watery and has large lumps.

The silken tofu or silk tofu. It is ideal for vegetarians or for all those who want to try something new and different. This cheese is made with soy milk. Today it can be found in practically all health food stores.

The paneer. It is an Indian cheese made from cow’s or buffalo’s milk and that uses lemon or lime as a coagulant instead of vinegar. They are very similar, the only difference in their preparation is that the paneer is heated to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit and the ricotta to 185.

And that’s it. Now you can start enjoying some delicious ricotta meatballs. What are you waiting for?