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Four ingredients and about 15 minutes is all you need.

Key Points

• Giada De Laurentiis shares an easy 10-minute method to make creamy, fresh ricotta at home.
• Use whole, organic milk for best results, avoiding ultra-pasteurized milk to ensure proper curd formation.
• Warm ricotta with sugar and cocoa powder makes a simple, nostalgic dessert inspired by her grandfather.

If you can’t whip up a lasagna without spreading on generous layers of ricotta, you’ll want to pay close attention to Giada De Laurentiis’ method for making the creamy Italian cheese. Not only does she make the process look effortless, but she also shared a delicious topping idea that might have you rethinking your go-to dessert.

After filming the cheesemaking process, her daughter Jade and partner Shane joined on camera as De Laurentiis showed them how to make her “ultimate comfort food.” While plating her dessert—warm ricotta dusted with sugar and cocoa powder—she explained that she learned it from her grandfather and grew up eating it as an afternoon snack with him.

If you’re ready to dive into this delicious dessert (or just need some ricotta for your next lasagna), you’re in luck. You probably already have everything you need on hand, and the process only takes about 10 minutes. De Laurentiis’ Instagram post may have offered only a glimpse, but we tracked down the full recipe on her Giadzy website and are walking you through the steps so you can get started right away.

Gather whole milk, heavy cream, a lemon and salt—plus a pot, a large mixing bowl, a colander and a few layers of cheesecloth (a fine wire sieve or a thin tea towel will work in a pinch). Giada combines the milk, heavy cream and salt in a Dutch oven, since the thick bottom and walls offer gentle, even heat distribution. She brings the mixture to a very gentle simmer over medium heat. Once small bubbles begin to form around the sides, the lemon juice goes in and the heat is reduced. After about two minutes, you’ll notice a thick layer of curds forming on the surface—a sign that the mixture is ready to be strained.

That’s really all that stands between you and a batch of fresh ricotta cheese—but there are a couple of tips that can help you achieve the best results. First, when reaching for the milk, make sure it’s not ultra-pasteurized. Due to the high-heat pasteurization process, ultra-pasteurized milk can result in a loose or watery ricotta. De Laurentiis recommends whole, organic milk.

The second thing you’ll want to keep in mind is that allowing the curds to cool after straining is also key to producing a creamy texture, but Giada notes that letting it strain for too long—say, more than five minutes—can cause the ricotta to become overly dry. Just be sure you let it come to room temperature after straining, then store any unused ricotta in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to five days.

We’re already looking around our kitchens for the ingredients and dreaming up ways to use up this delicate cheese. In fact, we might have a deliciously savory slice of ricotta toast in our future—or maybe even a sweeter version coming our way. Here are a few more delicious ways to use this creamy cheese: