I read a very interesting article last night about ricotta cheese. Being Italian, it's in my blood, it's part of my heritage. As a child, I remember watching my grandmother, mother and aunt standing at the kitchen table during the Easter holiday making Italian Ricotta Cheesecakes, and other delights made with this by-product of mozzarella cheese, hoping that I would get a chance to scrape the bowl clean after they were through mixing their magic.

Ricotta is a creamy and delicately sweet cheese. In the summer months, many local dairies produce fresh ricotta which achieves its deepest flavor in early summer. The milk from cows which have been grazing on new-grown pasture's is readily available. This grass adds herbal undertones to artisanal versions of a cheese that long has been a mass-produced dairy department staple. Some artisanal cheesemakers use goat or sheep's milk. Fresh ricotta comes in a variety of versions from firm to creamy, wet or dry. In the south of Italy it is an essential staple of any good Italian kitchen.

Handcrafted ricotta now is in demand at gourmet cheese shops and farmers' markets.

Spoon it on berries, add as a finishing touch to pasta, put a dollop in soup.

A quick dessert, mix 1/2 cup of low fat ricotta in a bowl, add semi sweet coco powder, and a 1/2 teaspoon almond extract for a really nice and light dessert.

Mom's Italian Ricotta Cheesecake

(not for anyone on a diet) but it is really easy to make. Top with fresh strawberries, blueberries or raspberries a spring of fresh mint and drizzle with chocolate.

• 3 pounds ricotta cheese
• 9 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• Grated peel and juice from 1 orange
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• Confectioners' sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 10-inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet.
2. Using an electric mixer, combine the ricotta, eggs, granulated sugar, orange peel and juice, cream and vanilla. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven and let the cake rest inside for 30 minutes. Let cool, then sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Enjoy its wholesome goodness. To find fresh ricotta call your local farm market, or cheese shop. Most gourmet cook shops carry a local dairy's version. In Philadelphia it is available at the Reading Terminal Market, or the Italian Market on 9th Street in South Philadelphia (Claudio's or DiBruno Brothers).