Ricotta
Cheese holds a special place in my heart. I love all kinds of cheese – the stinkier, the better. So when I learned how easy it was to make ricotta cheese I couldn’t wait to give it a try!
I don’t love store-bought ricotta, it tends to be dry and bland, but homemade ricotta is an entirely different cheese. It’s moist, citrusy, spreadable, and delicious on a slice of fresh sour dough bread with a drizzle of high quality olive oil and fresh cracked pepper.
If you are looking to dive deeper into the world of cheesemaking, ricotta is a great first step. The basics are here without the nuances of citric acid, rennet, cheese salt, and all those fun bits. We’ll get into that later.
After checking out a few ricotta recipes and blending them together, here is what I ended up trying out for my test batch of ricotta:
Homemade Ricotta Cheese
1/2 C. Heavy Cream
1 1/2 C. Whole milk
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
2 Tbsp. Rice vinegar (you can also use white wine vinegar, white vinegar, or lemon juice)
- Pour the cream, milk, and salt into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Pay attention to it because it will foam over quickly once it does boil.
- As soon as it boils, remove it from the heat.
- Add the vinegar and give it a quick stir.
- Wait 2-3 minutes (don’t touch it!) you’ll see it separate into curds and whey.
- Wet a piece of cheese cloth and drape over a sieve. Pour the curdles milk over the cheese cloth to strain.
- The longer you wait, the more firm your ricotta will be. I waited about 20-30 minutes for a creamy ricotta.
Congratulations! You’re a novice cheesemaker.
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