Ricotta, Well-drained

You need quite dry ricotta for some of the dishes in this book. If you buy ricotta that’s very fresh and still quite moist, hang it in a clean damp Chux, J-Cloth or piece of muslin (as in the photo) over a bowl for a couple of hours in the fridge to firm it up; you’ll lose about 25 per cent in liquid, so buy a bit more ricotta than you need.