Ricotta Pizza Gets Delicious Dollops of Flavor

Expert pizzaiola shares tips for blending ricotta with unique ingredients to create edible art

Jan. 30, 2026 at 1:15pm

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Ricotta is becoming a popular pizza topping, and Leah Scurto, founder and pizzaiola at PizzaLeah in Sonoma County, California, has been experimenting with infusing ricotta with various flavors like lemon, pesto, and Calabrian chilis. Scurto shares best practices for blending ricotta, using the right kitchen tools, and determining the right amount to use on pizzas. She also provides a recipe for her signature Confit Garlic Ricotta topping.

Why it matters

As ricotta grows in popularity as a pizza topping, pizzamakers are finding creative ways to elevate the mild cheese by blending it with flavorful ingredients. Scurto's innovative approach to flavored ricotta demonstrates how the versatile cheese can be used to add color, texture, and unique tastes to pizzas, helping pizzerias differentiate their offerings.

The details

Scurto started experimenting with infused ricotta about 10 years ago, initially whipping lemon zest and juice into the cheese. As she began competing in pizza competitions, she expanded her ricotta creations to include pesto, confit garlic, Calabrian chilis, and other peppers. Scurto says ricotta is a "forgiving" cheese that can be flavored in numerous ways, and she focuses on blending ingredients that complement both the flavor and color of the ricotta. To incorporate additions like peppers, she pulverizes them in a food processor and adds heavy cream to thicken the mixture before folding it into the ricotta. Scurto aims for small, quarter-sized dollops of the flavored ricotta, which she often pipes onto pizzas for a textured appearance.

  • Scurto started experimenting with infused ricotta around 10 years ago.

The players

Leah Scurto

The founder, managing partner and pizzaiola at PizzaLeah in Sonoma County, California.

PizzaLeah

A pizzeria in Sonoma County, California, founded and operated by Leah Scurto.

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What they’re saying

“You can flavor ricotta almost any way you want. Ricotta is one of those cheeses that is pretty forgiving. … You can pipe it, you can dollop it, you can put it in a squeeze bottle. There's all sorts of fun things you can do with ricotta – it's a really versatile cheese.”

— Leah Scurto, Founder and Pizzaiola

“If you strain the oil and smash these garlic cloves down, they turn into a very smooth paste. If you need to thin it out, you can add a little bit of that garlic oil back in. Once you have that super thin paste, you can fold it straight into your ricotta with a spatula and mix it together.”

— Leah Scurto, Founder and Pizzaiola

The takeaway

Ricotta's mild flavor and versatility make it an ideal canvas for pizzamakers to experiment with unique flavor combinations and textures, helping them create visually appealing and delicious specialty pizzas that stand out in a crowded market.