All of Italy · cheese · medium
Best pasta for ricotta
Fresh ricotta loosened with pasta water, with lemon, pepper, or spinach. Mild and creamy. Short shapes and ribbons.
- Region
- All of Italy
- Base
- Cheese
- Texture
- Medium
- Shapes that hold it
- 8
- Classic plates
- 9
What it asks of a shape
Ricotta is a medium cheese-based sauce. It wants a short shape, speared with the pieces on the same fork, a ribbon, with the flat surface a rich sauce needs, and a cup or a shell, to scoop the pieces. The ranking below scores every profiled shape on those traits, then the shape's own sauce notes break the ties.
About ricotta
No article covers this exact sauce. On ricotta in general:
Ricotta is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. However, modern ricotta is often made from milk instead of whey. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after the casein has been used to make cheese, notably albumin and globulin.
8 shapes that hold it
Mafaldine
Ribbons · Campania
The frilled edges trap a sauce that a flat ribbon would shed, so it handles ragu, sausage, and cream with pieces in them.
Sagne 'ncannulate
Hand-formed · Puglia
A wide twisted strip holds a thick tomato in the spiral.
Malloreddus
Hand-formed · Sardinia
A ridged chewy shell, so it holds a sausage and tomato sauce, a meat ragu, or a pecorino dressing.
Strascinati
Hand-formed · Basilicata
Rough, thick, and open, so they take a sausage ragu, fried crumbs and dried peppers, or a tomato with ricotta.
Vesuvio
Short shapes · Campania
A dense spiral with pockets between the turns, so it carries a Neapolitan ragu, a sausage sauce, or a thick tomato with ricotta.
Casarecce
Short shapes · Sicily
A trough down the middle and a slight twist, so it carries pesto, ricotta, sausage crumbs, and a chunky vegetable sauce.
Fusilli
Short shapes · Campania
The spiral grooves trap sauce along their whole length, so fusilli takes chunky and creamy sauces that a smooth shape sheds: pesto, a vegetable ragu, tomato with ricotta, a cold dressing.
Orecchiette
Hand-formed · Puglia
A rough cup with a thick centre and a thin rim.
Classic plates with ricotta
Every dish in the shape profiles that names this sauce, with the shape it is made on.
- Cannelloni ricotta e spinaciCannelloni
- Cjarsons di Carnia con ricotta affumicataCjarsons
- Conchiglioni ripieni di ricotta e spinaciConchiglioni
- Mafaldine con ricotta e salsicciaMafaldine
- Manicotti with ricotta and spinachManicotti
- Mezzelune di ricotta e spinaciMezzelune
- Sagne 'ncannulate al sugo con ricotta forteSagne 'ncannulate
- tripoline con ricotta fresca e battuto di rucolaTripoline
- Vesuvio con salsiccia e ricottaVesuvio
Sources
- The ranking and the sauce notes are our editorial judgement, from the traits in each shape record. See the method.
- Ricotta, Wikipedia (summary, ingredients, origin), CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata Q216781.