Hi Jim,


 RH> My mom used cottage cheese for the (poor excuse for) lasagne
 RH> she made when I was growing up. Steve's mom gave me her recipe
 RH> for lasagne when we got married; it uses ricotta.

 JW> Cottage cheese is more readily available, less expensive and lower
 JW> in fat than ricotta, so it often gets used in lasagne in North
 JW> America. If it's chopped in a blender the graininess of ricotta can be
 JW> approximated

The price factor is undoubtedly why my mom used cottage cheese. That,
and the fact that she wasn't much of a cook. Steve grew up with his mom
using ricotta; he won't let me use anything else. (G) I had some ricotta
on hand so yesterday I made spinach/cheese stuffed shells--got a big
"thumbs up" from him.


 JW> Some other similar cheeses that can be used an alternative for
 JW> ricotta cheese in things: young (fresh) goat cheese, homemade pot
 JW> cheese. Mexican queso fresco and Indian paneer.

Some might be worth trying for other things but for Italian cooking, I'm
staying with ricotta.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


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