I never knew how easy it would be to make cheese until I tried homemade ricotta. I didn’t used to been a fan of ricotta until I started making it myself. Don’t get me wrong, I still use premade ricotta in some things when I need a lot, like in my lasagna. I’d rather use homemade ricotta as an appetizer. It’s very simple to make, and just takes a few standard ingredients that I usually have on hand.
Milk, heavy cream, vinegar and salt – yep that’s it. That French bread hiding in the background is for dipping the creamy cheese in. Milk to cream ratio is 2-1 so you can adjust the recipe to how much you need. Here’s the measurements:
- 3 cups of whole milk
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of white wine or champagne vinegar
- Special equipment – cheese cloth
Line a mesh sieve with the dampened cheesecloth and put it over a bowl or large measuring cup. You will need this to strain the cheese. Pour the milk and cream into a stainless steel saucepot, along with the salt. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring and keeping an eye on it so it does not boil over or scald. Once the mixture boils, turn off the heat and mix in the vinegar and let it stand for 2-4 minutes. You should already be seeing the curds and whey separate. The curds are the thick part in the pictures above.
Pour the mix into the cheesecloth/sieve and let it drain for 20-30 minutes. The longer you let it drain, the thicker it will be. I let the cheese in these pics sit about 25 minutes. Once it’s to the thickness you want, transfer it to a serving bowl. I like to eat it while it’s still warm, but you can cover it with plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
To serve, slice up some crusty bread (toasted or not – up to you) and toss some tomatoes with a little pesto and olive oil. I also like to drizzle a little olive oil on top of the ricotta. Yum!
Amy’s Kitchen 