Homemade Ricotta Cheese

I recently picked up a fabulous Italian cookbook at the used bookstore the other day that had a recipe for homemade ricotta cheese or as Giada likes to call it, "Ree-Coat-ah". My husband and I were intrigued with the idea of making cheese and were curious how it would taste compared to a store bought one. Well...I can tell you...it was delicious! The texture is creamy and it taste fresher than store bought. The best part is it doesn't take that long to make. The homemade ricotta was a great accompaniment for this salad which included sundried tomatoes, capers, red onion and romaine lettuce. 

For more cheese making posts, check out Maggie's blog Notes from Maggie's farm. For those of you who are lucky enough to live close to Austin, Maggie is offering cheese making classes this fall. For a preview, click here.

 

Homemade Ricotta:

4 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed, strained lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

**cheesecloth for straining**

Directions:

Pour milk, cream, lemon juice, and salt in a small heavy-bottomed stainless steel saucepan. Do not stir and bring to a boil. Turn off heat, set the saucepan aside until mixture has cooled (about 5 -10 minutes). Line a strainer or colander  with cheesecloth and place it in the sink. Gently scoop up the curds out of the saucepan and place in the strainer to drain. You can use the ricotta while it is still warm or you can place the cheesecloth filled with cheese over a bowl to drain and store in the fridge for 2 days. 

Makes approx. 8 ounces. 

Adapted recipe from a fabulous used Italian cookbook.

Note: I would double or triple the recipe. Our cheese went pretty fast!

Enjoy!