Creamy Homemade Ricotta cheese is easy to make, requires only four ingredients & is far superior to the store-bought stuff. When it’s homemade, ricotta is delish spread on toasted baguette slices & served with olives & wine.
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Ricotta takes 24 hours to make so a little patience is required. Start with full-fat milk, buttermilk & a little cream. Bring it to a simmer – being really careful not to let it boil over because that would be a shitty mess to clean up. Let the curds sit for 40 minutes then tip the whole lot into some muslin or cheesecloth & sprinkle it with sea salt. Discard the initial whey. Cover then weight it down & pop it into the fridge for 12 to 24 hours, depending on your patience, or rather, impatience level.
Cest – voila! Just don’t drop it in the sink as I did. But look, it survived.
Ordinarily, ricotta is used in baking – Orange, Ricotta & Almond Cake & Apricot Ricotta Breakfast Pastries. Or in stuffed pastas – Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed Pasta & lasagne. When the ricotta is homemade & it’s this good then serve it as a simple appetizer, Italian style.
I discovered making ricotta gives me the same smug satisfaction as making artisan bread. A few ingredients are totally transformed into something almost magical thanks to science. Ricotta that’s so delectable you too might stand with the fridge door open, container in hand, greedily enjoying its creamy goodness. Something that’s never happened in my home with store-bought ricotta.
Toodles, Lovoni xo
CREAMY HOMEMADE RICOTTA
Equipment
- large pot
- Large fine metal sieve or colander
- Medium-large bowl
- 16-inch square piece of muslin or cheesecloth (I use a white, thin flour sack towel)
- plate
- one or two cans for weight
Ingredients
- 8 cups whole milk
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons flaked or coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Combine milk, buttermilk & cream in a large pot (such as one you’d use for boiling pasta) over medium-high heat & bring to a simmer. When it’s ready bubbles break the surface around the edge of the pot, the mixture swells up the side of the pot about 1 inch (give or take) & it looks as though the mixture has split. Remove the pot from the heat & let sit, uncovered & untouched for 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, set up a fine metal sieve in a medium-large size bowl. Drape a piece of muslin inside the sieve, overhanging the side. After 30 minutes, carefully pour the milk mixture into the cloth-lined sieve. Let stand for 1 hour or until cool.
- Gather the cloth up towards the center & twist to help squeeze the excess whey from the cheese – I do this a couple of times. Discard the whey (the liquid in the bowl).
- Once the cheese is cooled. Twist the cloth into the center, cover with a plate then weight the plate down with a can of something from the pantry. Store in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.
- Remove the can & plate. Carefully unwrap the cheese then place a plate or bowl over the cheese & upturn it onto the plate. Discard any whey in the bowl. Place the ricotta into a bowl or sealed container & store in the fridge up to 2 weeks.
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