Homemade ricotta
Homemade ricotta is one of the easiest cheeses to make. Even the homemade version in this recipe is not the authentic way of making ricotta, the outcome is quite impressive. If you don't have lemon juice, you can substitute it with the same amount of white wine vinegar or use citric acid at the ratio of 2 teaspoons citric acid per 4 liter milk. Even if we say ricotta cheese, it is actually not really a cheese but a cheese by-product. The Italian word ricotta means 'recooked' and describes the cheese made when it is cooked again. The process of making ricotta in some regions of Italy dates back to the Bronze Age.
Equipment
- cheesecloth or muslin, strainer
Ingredients
- 4 l full cream milk, pasteurised
- 2 tbsp salt
- 8 tbsp fresh lemon juice (substitute white wine vinegar)
Instructions
- Heat the milk and salt in a large pot, stirring frequently to avoid burning the milk. When it starts to boil and lots of small bubbles appear on the surface, stir in the lemon juice.
- You will almost immediately see the curds appearing. Let the milk gently simmer for 2 minutes before you take the pot off the heat.
- Cover the milk and let it stand undisturbed for 5 minutes to rest.
- While you wait, place some cheesecloth or muslin in a large strainer. If you want to collect the whey to use it for further baking, you can put the strainer over a large bowl.
- Use a slotted spoon to take the curds out of the whey and place them into the strainer to drain more liquid. Make sure to take all small curd pieces out.
- Alternatively, you can pour the hot liquid and curd slowly into the strainer.
- Then cover the curds with the corners of the cheesecloth (muslin) and wait for at least 15 to 30 minutes or until no more liquid is running out of the curds.
- You could consume the curds immediately on freshly baked bread with honey dripping all over your hands. Or you can let the ricotta cool completely and store it in an air-tide container for 2 to 3 days in your fridge.
- You can add garlic, spices and herbs to use the ricotta as a fresh cheese spread. The ricotta is delicious in pasta recipes, you can bake a cheese cake with it or make the famous Italian ricotta dumplings.
- The amount of milk used will give you more or less 600 to 630 g of ricotta.
- If you want to make smaller amounts of cheese, follow these measurements:1 liter milk 7 g salt 30 ml lemon juice (white wine vinegar)
- TIP: If the curd and the whey don't separate easily, add a little more lemon juice or vinegar. DON'T be tempted to cook the milk mixture for longer, it will affect your curds.If you want a different texture in the ricotta, you can use 750 ml full cream milk and 250 ml cream.