Easy Homemade Ricotta
There are few foods I enjoy more than cheese. I’ve always loved dairy, but cheese has always been one of my favorite things to eat, whether used as an ingredient in a dish I’m making or just for a snack. I love all types of cheese too; everything from Blue to Mascarpone, but one of my favorite cheeses for snacking is ricotta cheese. I’ll spread it on warm toasted bread, or add some fresh chopped pineapple too it and eat it like cottage cheese. Of course, good ricotta can sometimes be hard to find. So for those of you who aren’t lucky enough to have an Italian market near you, I thought I would make up a homemade batch and teach you how. Making ricotta is not nearly as hard as one might think, so don’t be panicked if you’ve never made cheese before. Just follow the recipe below.
Easy Homemade Ricotta
Ingredients:
1 gallon whole milk
1 quart buttermilk
Directions:
- Prepare the sieve or colander. Choose one with a wide surface area, like the Oxo Convertible Colander so the curds will drain and cool more quickly. Rinse a large piece of cheesecloth or butter muslin with cold water, then fold it so that it is 6 or more layers thick, and arrange it in the sieve, or colander placed in the sink.
- Pour the milk and buttermilk into a large, nonreactive 8 quart stockpot.
- Transfer the pot to the stove and heat on high, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula, making sure to scrape the entire bottom of the pan to prevent the mixture from scorching.
- Once the mixture is warm, stop stirring. As the milk heats, curds will begin to form. At this point you may even hear some strange popping noises, this is actually the sound of the curds forming. They will rise and clump on the surface. When the curds begin to form, gently scrape the bottom of the pan with the spatula to release any that might be stuck to the bottom.
- When the mixture reaches 175 to 180 degrees F, the curds and whey will begin to separate. The whey will look like cloudy water underneath the sheet of thick white curds which forms on the surface. Immediately remove the pan from the heat.
- Working from the side of the pan, gently ladle the whey into the prepared sieve. Be sure to go slowly so as not to break up the curds too much.
Then, ladle the curds into the sieve, lifting the sides of the cloth to help the liquid drain. Do not press on the curds.
- When the draining starts to slow, gather the edges of the cloth, tie them up, and hang the ball from the faucet. Drain until the dripping stops, about 15 minutes, or longer if you prefer a drier ricotta.
- Untie the ball and transfer the ricotta into airtight containers. Refrigerate the containers and use within 1 week.
