Ricotta Cheese

 

Impress your friends with this easy cheese recipe! Traditionally, ricotta goes back millennia and was regarded as a poor man's cheese. It means 're-cooked' in Italian. To make ricotta, people would reboil whey, which is the liquid leftover from making other types of cheese. The remaining proteins in the whey clump together and rise to the top in a process called the 'flowering' of the ricotta. To see how they do it in Italy, check out these pictures from Joey's trip to an Italian farmstay where she learned how to make ricotta at a shepherd's farm!

If you're a beginner, it's much easier just to buy the following ingredients instead of reheating whey from making a more advanced cheese. Once you try this recipe, you may never want to buy ricotta from the supermarket again!

 

1L homo milk

1L half & half cream

1/2L buttermilk

1 tsp sea salt

large pot, silicone spatula 

1 piece cheesecloth (can be washed and reused after!)

fine mesh strainer, colander, deep metal bowl

 

1. Line a colander with cheesecloth and place on top of metal bowl. 

2. Pour milks into a pot and put on medium-high heat. Add salt and occasionally stir milk gently, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to avoid scorching.

3. Once you see it begins to curdle and separate from the liquid, gently move the cheese from the outside of the pot towards the middle without breaking up the curds too much. Repeat until the water is less milky looking and you have a good amount of curd (but don't wait too long or you can overcook it). 

4. Use a fine mesh strainer to scoop cheese onto the cheesecloth. If the strainer gets clogged up with cheese just scrape the cheese into the cloth with your spatula. Repeat until all the cheese is collected from the pot.

5. Let it strain for about 5 min. At this point the cheese will still be hot and start to firm up. Break it up with a fork.

6. Cool in fridge or eat warm with added toppings.

 

This recipe will feed 6 snackers or 4 hungry diners. Store ricotta in fridge for up to 6 days. 

 

Suggestions for Toppings & Uses:

 

Sweet - orange zest, lemon, cinnamon, honey, maple syrup, orange liqueur, berries, toasted nuts

Serve in crepes, sprinkled on desserts, alongside fruit, with fig jam on bread, use in cheesecake, cannoli

Savory - chives, dill, parsley, basil, thyme, black pepper, paprika, olive oil, balsamic vinegar

Serve with fresh bread & crackers, in crepes, lasagna, frittatas, pasta, sprinkled on salad, pizza, soup

 

What to do with the leftover liquid whey?

 

• make soup, sauces, protein drinks, bake, cook rice, basically any kind of cooking that uses water

• sprout seeds and grains

• use it with salt to ferment veggies

• feed your garden or animals