Recipe(tried): Freezing ricotta

Hi Gwynne. Certainly, the cheese experts caution against freezing ricotta. They say it thaws with a gritty, watery texture that is unpleasant. However, some sources say it's OK to freeze ricotta that has been cooked into a dish... leftover baked lasagna, for example.

But I will tell you that I froze some leftover cannoli filling last Christmas, and it was very enjoyable to eat afterward. I used it as a topping for sweet cherries and added toasted slice almonds for crunch. It was good; I served it to three other people who had no complaints about it either. I first have to tell you that the filling was not an authentic Italian one; it had a custard-like base of cooked milk and flour (as I remember it), and ricotta was stirred into that mixture after it cooled. I don't know if that custard base made a difference in the result after freezing, but I guess it might have.

My suggestion to you is to freeze a tablespoon or two of the cheese overnight, thaw it out, then decide whether you like the result. If you don't, try to find recipes to use it up before it spoils.