Ricotta filling too loose in calzone

[Gene in Acadiana]

I had an extra dough ball left over from last night's pizzas and decided to save it for a calzone today. I haven't made one in a while and wanted to do a traditional cheese calzone using ricotta and mozzarella. I did a 50/50 ricotta/mozz mix using Galbani whole milk ricotta. The ricotta was on the wet side. It was good but the cheese mixture was way too runny even after I let it sit for about 5 minutes to cool down slightly and firm up. I didn't poke any holes in the top to vent it as it baked as I wanted it to form that classic calzone dome.

Should I have drained the ricotta overnight or added an egg to stiffen it up? Or was my ratio off and I should have gone with more mozzarella than an equal amount of ricotta? My dough formula was NY style using ATBB flour.

[scott r]

That ricotta has good flavor, but I have had problems with it separating so I dont use it.  Straining/draining is a good idea.  50/50 should have been fine, some places only use ricotta.   

[foreplease]

Gene, was your mozzarella fresh mozzarella? If so, it easily could have contributed to the runniness. I trust Scott’s experience with the Galbani WM. Many store bought ricottas are stiff at refrigerator temp, loose at room temp, and who knows once baked. It certainly can’t hurt to drain it for a couple hours or overnight — if anything drains off, it’s not something you wanted in your calzone anyway.


When I make ricotta, it actually comes out on the dry side but can take on a creamier texture by stirring it briefly after it has drained well (45-60 min) in a strainer lined with cheese cloth or a piece of an old, clean, t-shirt in a pinch. I have used it in lasagna (long bake time) with great results but have not made calzone with it.

[Gene in Acadiana]

That ricotta has good flavor, but I have had problems with it separating so I dont use it.  Straining/draining is a good idea.  50/50 should have been fine, some places only use ricotta.

Thanks, Scott. Now that I think about it I did a white pizza with spinach and some dabs of the ricotta the night before and it really spread out during the bake. I should have realized that it would do the same in a calzone. I thought maybe the mozzarella would help bind it.

[Gene in Acadiana]

Gene, was your mozzarella fresh mozzarella? If so, it easily could have contributed to the runniness. I trust Scott’s experience with the Galbani WM. Many store bought ricottas are stiff at refrigerator temp, loose at room temp, and who knows once baked. It certainly can’t hurt to drain it for a couple hours or overnight — if anything drains off, it’s not something you wanted in your calzone anyway.


When I make ricotta, it actually comes out on the dry side but can take on a creamier texture by stirring it briefly after it has drained well (45-60 min) in a strainer lined with cheese cloth or a piece of an old, clean, t-shirt in a pinch. I have used it in lasagna (long bake time) with great results but have not made calzone with it.

Thanks. I used whole milk low-moisture mozzarella as I was making NY style pizzas the night before. I made ricotta once a number of years ago and I remember it being much less moist just as you mentioned. Maybe I'll give it another shot the next time I need some.   

[foreplease]

Thanks. I used whole milk low-moisture mozzarella as I was making NY style pizzas the night before. I made ricotta once a number of years ago and I remember it being much less moist just as you mentioned. Maybe I'll give it another shot the next time I need some.

It took me a few seemingly random failures before I figured out it works well in a stainess pan and nearly not at all in anodized aluminum, fwiw.