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/magazine/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...
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/SS01.jpg

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.

http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss1.jpg
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http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss4.jpg

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.
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss6.jpg
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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
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss10.jpg

Almost forgot the garlic!!!
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss11.jpg

Smoked for 1 1/2 hours at 250
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss12.jpg

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 :Cry:

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.
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss13.jpg

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.
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss14.jpg
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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.
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss16.jpg
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss17.jpg

Shells look more like enchiladas :noidea:
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss18.jpg
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss19.jpg

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 :thumb:

Be there in a few minutes...Little windy for the cesna today though...

Fantastic job man....What the heck is tobasco wood like????

Great looking shells! Even if I take my Kubota out of 4 wheel drive, I can't make it there soon enough for the leftovers.:lol: You could use FedEx though.:noidea:

I can see a lasagna made with that smoked ricotta.

nice werk.

Man....i'm on for that. Glass of red wine for Louie....& we'd be right proud to help ya eat that! :thumb:

Fantastic job man....What the heck is tobasco wood like????

It's interesting, like many oak barrels they break down and sell the smell is evident right when the wood burns but then quickly goes to smelling like plain oak chips would.
Some folks swear it is a rip to use oak or wine woods claiming they add nothing but if the flavor is in the wood then at least some part of it must make it into the food.
Loved burning it because you would really get a whiff of tobasco smell, the flavor is pretty much oak but there is a slight light tobasco tste underneath the wood smoke flavor.
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/wood2.jpg
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/wood3.jpg

I can see a lasagna made with that smoked ricotta.

nice werk.

Thanks.
I almost did the lasagna but my BIL had made lasagna a few days before that and gave me some so I went the shells route, next time it will probably be lsagna, or maybe eggplant rollatini with some eggplants form the garden :thumb:

Just beautiful Fire it up. Funny that the smoke got lost with the addition of other ingredients. Kudos for a great job...:drooling:

Looks like a lot of prep work nice job:thumb:poi-nts

Outstanding!!!! I like it. I know that was some damn fine eats... I made a smoked chicken stuffed shells for an appetizer.. Its here on the site somewhere..

Great Idea looks very good............................poi-nts

http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx224/Tripodious2/ss18.jpg

poi-nts for pics - that's a winner in anybody's book !

Good job all round :-)

see, that's just good food right there!

What a great dish, just bounding with flavor. Points to you my friend. Smoke and seeds forever.

Thanks everyone!
When I reheated some for lunch the next day I found that the smoke flavor was much more prevalent, guess it just needed a rest.


Smoke and seeds forever.

Long as that smoke is thin and blue or green and herby and the seeds are for my garden or aren't in my buds I'm happy :bounce: