Roman Cheese Pudding

Okay, I get it.  Nothing about the name "Roman Cheese Pudding" sounds even slightly appetizing.  I promise though, if you give it a chance you will be glad you did.  Think baked lemony cannoli filling and you'd be on the right track.  It is a bit strange to think about and the fact that I had to sieve the ricotta sent me into fits, but this is good stuff.  I shared my finished product with colleagues at work and no one was disappointed.

I made a couple adjustments, one being the direct result of the other, and both being a product of my laziness.  The directions call for using a mold and when I think of mold I think of jello salads I used to eat as a child.  I'm pretty sure that type of mold is what Maria Luisa was getting at.  However, I only have a bundt pan that is about 3 times the size I actually needed.  I could have gone to the store and found myself a mold, but I was not really up for the hunt.  Instead, I used my bundt pan and doubled the recipe so that it wouldn't look dwarfed inside the thing.  Below is the regular recipe, not the doubled version I made.

Roman Cheese Pudding

Budino di Ricotta alla Romana

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ricotta cheese

1/2 c. sugar

2 egg yolks

3 whole eggs

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

grated peel of 1 small lemon

1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F and grease mold.  Sprinkle mold lightly with bread crumbs.  Be careful with your bread crumb selection.  I only had Italian style bread crumbs in the pantry and didn't really think about it when I used them to prep the pan.  Italian style bread crumbs have parsley flakes.  Those parsley flakes will adhere to your pudding.  It doesn't change the flavor but it will make your guests look twice at the edges when they cut a slice.

Using a wire mesh strainer and the back of a spoon or spatula, sieve the ricotta into a bowl.

Still not sure what that really added to the overall recipe but that is what sieved ricotta will look like.

Now, add the sugar and mix well.  Blend in yolks and, one at a time, add the whole eggs.  Beat constantly throughout this part.  I used a stand mixer since I didn't think I would have enough hands to crack, add, and beat all at the same time.  Blend in the remaining ingredients.  Pour mixture into the prepared mold.

Place mold in a pan of water.  You will, essentially, be cooking this pudding in a bain marie - a fancy term for hot water bath.  This creates a more uniform level of heat around the mold and the steam will keep the pudding from drying out.

Bake for approximately 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out dry.  With my doubled version I had to bake it for 1 hour 10 minutes.

There were some obvious removal issues.  For the most part it plopped out nicely, but there were some spots that stuck to the mold.  Now, this could very well be my fault.  Maria Luisa did not provide any instruction regarding removing the pudding from the mold.  Part of me said that if I let it cool in the pan too much it might end up sticking to the sides and never come out.  The other part of me said I needed to wait until it cooled at least a bit so that I was sure it was properly set.  

 

I ended up waiting a whole 5 minutes then turned the mold upside down.  Therefore, the case could be made that had I waited until it cooled, this would not have happened.  But, those could have simply been trouble spots on the mold where there wasn't enough butter and breadcrumbs so it would have stuck regardless of when I tried to remove it.  Maybe next time around I wait until it cools before removing it.  Maybe next time I use a pan that is more appropriately sized.  Honestly, who knows.

What I do know though, is that this pudding tastes pretty great.  It has a nice smooth texture with a light hint of lemon.  The extreme number of eggs makes the dessert rich and creamy.  It's worth trying for your next dinner party.