Cherry-pistachio cannoli cream

10
Points®
Total Time
15 min
Prep
15 min
Cook
0 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
In Sicily, cannoli cream is most often made with fresh sheep’s milk ricotta. We’ve used low-fat ricotta because its more widely available at most supermarkets. If you can find the sheep’s milk variety you might want to give it a try. Sheep’s milk cheese will give the cannoli cream a very tempting flavor, a little bit like a very mild goat cheese — different and temptingly delicious. For a quick dessert, serve the cream with dippers such as graham crackers or an assortment of strawberries, pear slices and apple slices. Or if you have more time, you can fill store-bought shells with the cream. Look for them in the bakery section at your grocery store.

Ingredients

Part skim ricotta cheese

1 cup(s)

Packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp

Table salt

tsp

Semisweet chocolate

2 oz, (1/4 cup)

Orange zest

¼ tsp, grated

Vanilla extract

¼ tsp

Cherries

2 cup(s), such as bing, pitted, plus 4 cherries on the stem

Shelled pistachio nuts

oz, chopped, (2 tablespoons)

Instructions

  1. Combine the ricotta, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor; process until perfectly smooth, 1 – 2 minutes.
  2. Scrape the cheese mixture into a medium bowl; stir in the chocolate chips, orange zest, and vanilla. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours.
  3. Stir the pitted cherries into the cheese mixture. Divide the cannoli cream evenly among 4 dessert bowls. Sprinkle with the pistachios and top each with a cherry on the stem. Serve at once. Yields generous 1⁄2 cup per serving.