Gelat tal-Irkotta - Rikotta Ice-Cream
Mona once said (probably to herself) that if she could eat everything in the form of an ice-cream come the Malta summer heat, then she would. This recipe edges her closer to this dream world of hot and cold: it requires no cooking, no custard-making and no eggs: wondrous.
Information
| Main Ingredient | Ricotta |
| Preparation Time | 5-15 minutes |
| Cooking Time | 90 minutes |
| Course | Dessert |
| Recipe Serves | 6 |
| Recipe Type | Ice-Cream |
Tagatose is a sugar subsitute, a derivate of lactose, which is heat and cold stable
100grams sugar or, for a much lovelier result, 100 grams Tagatose
Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon [if you can use local, the flavour and oils are so much stronger]
A pinch of salt
1 cup of double cream
1 cup of fresh cream
For extra flavour, as per your tastes:
Candied orange peel, around 3 tablespoons, chopped in small cubes
2-3 tablespoons peeled pistachios
Pomegranate pips, around 2 tablespoons for decoration
Tiny dark chocolate chips, around 2 tablespoons
Put the essential ingredients - from the irkotta to the creams - in a food processor and blend until you have a beautifully smooth cream. The salt is very important here. Please taste as you go along as you may actually need to add a tiny bit more.
I find that tagatose really lends itself to ice-cream and makes it even smoother. The Italians like to add sugar to rikotta, mix and leave it over night. Then they repeat the process a couple of times until the sugar has broken down the cheese.
Then place in an ice-cream machine with the orange peel, pistachios and/or chocolate chips if using, and blend for around 30 minutes.
If you are using pomegranate, mix in just before placing in the freezer: if you place them before, they will burst and you will end up with ice-cream full of pips.
I like to freeze this ice-cream in a loaf tin, lined with stretch and seal, then upend it and slice it before serving. This is the old traditional gelat tat-tigijiet [Maltese wedding ice-cream] way. Otherwise, you can freeze it in a normal container, take out of the freezer around 15 minutes before serving and scoop into the usual balls.
It is also acceptable to eat straight out of the container while perusing Vogue.
Comments
sounds yummy!
where can i get these ingredients from:
100 grams Tagatose
Tiny dark chocolate chips, around 2 tablespoons
?
also how cna i tell that a lemon is unwaxed... i am NOT bein sarky, i really don't know!
Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon [if you can use local, the flavour and oils are so much stronger]
thanks x
Not sarky at all Ang :)
Tagatose, or rather its official title 'Tagatesse' is a sugar substitute, but not a sweetener as we know them. It is available from pharmacies and from the Gzira Mini Market as one fun tells me. I buy bulk so I usually call the agent and he delivers.
Chocolate chips are available in most shops. Don't buy the crap kind as they will feel like artificial fat in your mouth. To make chips, just buy a good dark chocolate and chop it up with a large, sharp knife.
The imported lemons are usually waxed: you notice because the skin is very smooth and shiny. Lemons in nature are a little knobbly. The oil of the lemon resides in its rind, so you want a real, unwaxed lemon if you want any lemony flavour at all.
Hope this helps!
I find an ice-cream machine too bulky to keep in kitchen ( and ugly also). Infact I keep my bread machine in the basement and it is gathering dust.
Any suggestions how we can do without the ice-cream machine ?
Thanks
The only way you can save on the ugliness factor is by getting a Cuisinart machine in stainless steel. I did this and the machine works and works. Nonetheless, it is extremely bulky.
The bread machine was from Lidl, was and is still is, fugly, and therefore stays in a cupboard where it cannot offend anybody with those looks :)
You can make the rikotta ice-cream in the old method of pressing into a loaf tin (as described above) and simply freezing, then slicing to serve.
