Tweet
So the idea for this came from some Googling I was doing the other day when I cam across a recipe for smoked ricotta cheese.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/ma.../13food-t.html
Now I didn't go by any of the directions or the ingredients list but I figured I would give it a shot.
I squeezed some ricotta in cheesecloth to take out some of the moisture, put it in the smoker at 200 and threw in a big handful of tobasco wood chips. Smoked for about half an hour then scraped into a bowl and refrigerated overnight.
Next day this is what I had...
The smoke was a very nice mild throughout smoke flavor and combined with the ricotta it seemed to have an almost sweetness to it, I have to imagine smoked ricotta would make a wonderful addition in a dessert.
Since that was such a success I figured I would do up a batch of stuffed shells since they contain a good amount of ricotta and minimal other filling ingredients.
Took the remaining container of ricotta I had, placed it in some cheesecloth and placed inside a strainer over a pan with a light weight on top to push out some moisture and set in the fridge for 12 hours, 12 hours to overnight would work.
When the 12 hours were up a removed it from the fridge and spread out over a pan that had some holes in it and smoked, this time over oak and at 250 instead of 200.
Into a bowl to cool.
To go with it I threw together a smoky sauce.
Got ready to throw some tomatoes and a sweet onion in the smoker
Almost forgot the garlic!!!
Smoked for 1 1/2 hours at 250
Some of the tomatoes and onion went into a smoky salad dressing, forgot I had no lettuce or salad mix so that had to go into the fridge
For the sauce I sauteed some smoked and regular onion with olive oil then added the garlic.
Added smoked tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper, little sugar, bay leaf and a little tomato paste, simmered for about 4 hours, cooled and went to bed.
Next day I made a mixture of the ricotta, some cottage cheese, parsley, salt, pepper, parm, 1 egg and 2 yolks, stuffed some shells I had boiled, spread sauce in the bottom of the pan then shells and topped with mozz and a 5 blend Ital cheese, I wish I had some smoked mozz but I ran out and haven't gotten around to making any more.
Baked at 350, 20 minutes covered and 10 more uncovered.
While the shells were in the oven I made a mixture of butter, minced garlic, oregano, parsley and some crushed red pepper. Spread on some Italian bread and threw into the smoker with a little oak and hickory at 375 for about 5 minutes.
Shells look more like enchiladas
The shells were delicious, the sauce had a great smoky flavor. Cheese in the shells definitely could have used more as it was pretty light and almost got lost with the addition of other ingredients but was still tasty.
The bread was ok but the smoke flavor didn't quite work. Next time I will just do it in the oven or in a pan.
I will definitely make these again.
Got plenty of leftovers so let me know who's stopping by
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/ma.../13food-t.html
Now I didn't go by any of the directions or the ingredients list but I figured I would give it a shot.
I squeezed some ricotta in cheesecloth to take out some of the moisture, put it in the smoker at 200 and threw in a big handful of tobasco wood chips. Smoked for about half an hour then scraped into a bowl and refrigerated overnight.
Next day this is what I had...
The smoke was a very nice mild throughout smoke flavor and combined with the ricotta it seemed to have an almost sweetness to it, I have to imagine smoked ricotta would make a wonderful addition in a dessert.
Since that was such a success I figured I would do up a batch of stuffed shells since they contain a good amount of ricotta and minimal other filling ingredients.
Took the remaining container of ricotta I had, placed it in some cheesecloth and placed inside a strainer over a pan with a light weight on top to push out some moisture and set in the fridge for 12 hours, 12 hours to overnight would work.
When the 12 hours were up a removed it from the fridge and spread out over a pan that had some holes in it and smoked, this time over oak and at 250 instead of 200.
Into a bowl to cool.
To go with it I threw together a smoky sauce.
Got ready to throw some tomatoes and a sweet onion in the smoker
Almost forgot the garlic!!!
Smoked for 1 1/2 hours at 250
Some of the tomatoes and onion went into a smoky salad dressing, forgot I had no lettuce or salad mix so that had to go into the fridge
For the sauce I sauteed some smoked and regular onion with olive oil then added the garlic.
Added smoked tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper, little sugar, bay leaf and a little tomato paste, simmered for about 4 hours, cooled and went to bed.
Next day I made a mixture of the ricotta, some cottage cheese, parsley, salt, pepper, parm, 1 egg and 2 yolks, stuffed some shells I had boiled, spread sauce in the bottom of the pan then shells and topped with mozz and a 5 blend Ital cheese, I wish I had some smoked mozz but I ran out and haven't gotten around to making any more.
Baked at 350, 20 minutes covered and 10 more uncovered.
While the shells were in the oven I made a mixture of butter, minced garlic, oregano, parsley and some crushed red pepper. Spread on some Italian bread and threw into the smoker with a little oak and hickory at 375 for about 5 minutes.
Shells look more like enchiladas
The shells were delicious, the sauce had a great smoky flavor. Cheese in the shells definitely could have used more as it was pretty light and almost got lost with the addition of other ingredients but was still tasty.
The bread was ok but the smoke flavor didn't quite work. Next time I will just do it in the oven or in a pan.
I will definitely make these again.
Got plenty of leftovers so let me know who's stopping by
You could use FedEx though.
Comment