Delicious ricotta roll

From time to time it is part of our summer lunch. It is a wonderful treat after a vegetable soup. Delicious as well as wholesome and healthy. Its tender taste gently embraces and satisfies the craving for something sweet. As the main ingredient is our lovely homemade ricotta, this special local delicacy is as wholesome as it can get. What are we talking about? About delicious ricotta roll. Continue reading to learn about its background and preparation. 

Ricotta roll tastes like summer – wholesome seasonal treat

Although it is somewhat sweet and we can define it as a dessert, ricotta roll remains a light and at the same time wholesome dish. Our family treats it as a seasonal, summer dish, as it is in summer that ricotta is available. We really do love to eat according to what nature and homestead have to offer. 

The dough is simple, made out of flour, water and some oil, while the main ingredient of the filling is our sheep ricotta. Ricotta contains only little fat, because the main ingredient is not milk, but whey. On the other hand, it is a very much appreciated source of proteins beneficial to our bodies. 

We stir in an egg to ricotta so that the filling has a nice texture. By the way, also eggs come directly from our farm, from our lovely hens. We add some cinnamon, lemon zest, raisins soaked in rum, and sugar according to your taste.

Roll or strudel?

You might have already tasted apple strudel and wonder if our ricotta roll is its dairy counterpart. We do roll the dough as when making strudel and add the filling and roll it up the same way. But here comes the main difference. We carefully wrap ricotta roll into a cloth and then cook it in salted boiling water for about half an hour. When the roll is cooked, we remove the cloth and cut the roll into pieces, about two centimetres wide. The last task is to prepare a sauce, usually butter sauce with crumbs and add some cinnamon to taste. 

Optionally, we can entirely skip the sugar, cinnamon and raisins to create a savoury alternative. Instead, we can add some herbs into the filling, such as parsley or chive. 

Do you agree that every season has its taste? To me, summer tastes like ricotta. I am grateful that I can eat wholesome, homemade food. Directly from the farm to the plate. Not to mention the pleasure of caressing our lovely sheep. 

Greetings from the gorgeous Lepena,

Julija