As far as stuffed shells go, either ricotta OR impastata will work. I have found that most of my clients looking for impastata were looking to use it for ravioli filling. In either case, yes, adding an egg or two will help hold together your filling, however, an egg is not necessary if you’re working with impastata, as it is much more viscous than ricotta. When I make my stuffed shells, I have done it both ways. In every case, adding salt, pepper, and fresh or dried herbs is my go-to recipe. Adding dried herbs will allow your cheese to keep longer, as they no longer contain water. Fresh herbs taste better, well, fresher, to be exact, but do not have as long of a shelf life due to their water content. If you’re planning on making your filling and baking your shells right away, then fresh herbs are best. Your ricotta/impastata will heat as it bakes, but not melt. If you want a “melty” consistency, you can add some mozzarella to your filling. If your filling does not include an egg, then you can eat it cold and uncooked! SO that should solve that problem for you. Let me know if you’ve got more questions!

P.S. In order to keep your shells from drying out ahile baking, don’t forget to cover them with sauce. Also, don’t know if it would be good or not, but I just saw on the Today Show that a chef was suggesting a substitution of cottage cheese for ricotta in a stuffed shells recipe. I’m a tad suspicious, but you could always give it a go!

Carl, I do hear this a lot! Please note my response to Ashley below. In it I describe a way to make the curds smoother and less rubbery/bouncey and more palatable to those with an aversion to curd cheese. (For the record, I sometimes have trouble with the texture of cottage cheese!) Thanks for bookmarking us!

Donna, I would not recommend spreading the ricotta on your bread the night before, as your assumption is correct, and your bread will be soggy the next day. I always make my ricotta at night, and if desired, I mix in some salt and dried herbs. I leave in a bit of whey to keep my cheese moist, and I refrigerate my cheese in an airtight container. Think of it like a normal cheese spread, that you bring out every time you want a snack, spread on bread or crackers, then replace the container with the unused cheese. Your ricotta will last at least two weeks like this, depending on a few factors. If the milk used to make the ricotta is pasteurized, your cheese will last longer. If your milk is fresh and raw, it will last two weeks, and if it is raw but not as fresh, give it one week.

Thank you in advance

While Ricotta should be the easiest to make using store-bought milk, raw milk or at the very least, locally produced (and gently pasteurized) milk are the best choices.

Check back in and let me know how I can help further! As soon as I know what milk you’re using I can point you in, hopefully, a better direction.