It’s beautiful. It’s healthy. It’s diabetic friendly. It’s gluten free. And, most important, it tastes great! This is a dessert dish I discovered, made by the Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. It’s a great way to use those beautiful fresh summer berries without adding too many of those sinful diet no-no’s. In my version, I used strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. I didn’t make the sauce the original recipe called for, and I substituted Splenda for the sugar to make it more diabetic friendly. I think I may have found my new replacement for when those cheesecake cravings hit!

INGREDIENTS:

1 15 ounce carton of ricotta cheese (the original recipe, linked above, gives directions for making your own if you prefer)
2 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute
2 tablespoons liquid honey
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
2 6 oz. packages fresh raspberries
2 6 oz. packages fresh blackberries

INSTRUCTIONS:

Place the ricotta cheese in a bowl and stir in the sugar, honey and vanilla. Set aside at room temperature for up to 2 hours.

In another bowl, combine the berries.

To serve, spoon the berries into a dish and place a large spoon of the ricotta mixture on top. You can dress the dish with the Fresh Raspberry Sauce (recipe provided in the link above). I skipped the sauce and simply served the fruit and ricotta as an easy everyday dessert.