Homemade Rich Fresh RICOTTA Cheese
"This is delicious and easy - it almost makes itself. Use it wherever ricotta cheese is called for - in pies, in phyllo, in lasagne etc. Sweeten it with honey for a yummy spread. I got this from Molly O'Neill, who wrote the food section in the NYT for many years. Basically you mix the ingredients, cook for a couple of minutes, and then it drains for half an hour. Then it's done."
- Ready In:
- 12mins
- Ingredients:
- 5
- Yields:
-
3 cups
ingredients
- 12 cups whole milk
- 1 1⁄2 cups whole-milk yoghurt
- 1 1⁄2 cups heavy cream
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch nutmeg (optional)
directions
- In a large pan, combine the milk, yoghurt and cream and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- Boil for 2 minutes, or until the milk is very curdled.
- Line a large mesh strainer with a damp kitchen towel or several layers of damp cheesecloth, making sure the cloth extends well over the sides of the strainer.
- Place the strainer over a deep bowl and pour the milk through the strainer.
- Drain 30 minutes, making sure the strainer does not rest in the liquid.
- Gather up the loose ends of the cloth and twist gently to extract more liquid.
- Transfer the curds to a bowl and stir in the salt and nutmeg.
- Discard the liquid (whey).
- The cheese will keep, refrigerated, for 3 days.
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Reviews
-
Great recipe! But, don't discard the whey. It makes a wonderful substitute for the liquid (water) you would use to bake yeast bread (by hand, bread machine, or with a heavy-duty stand mixer.) Nice tangy flavor and good texture. Don't be afraid to taste the whey before using it. (I was, the first time I had it.) You can add a little bottled (chlorine-free) water or something (beer? eggs?) if you need more liquid for your recipe. Some of my best breads were made with a fresh whey base. I make dense Greek-style yogurt all the time by simply letting inexpensive regular plain yogurt (16 ounce carton) strain through a cheesecloth-lined china cap strainer set over a bowl for several hours. I hate to let the whey go to waste since I usually end up with about 1 1/2 cups of whey from a large carton of yogurt. -
Thank you so much for posting this! I am a lactose intolerant cheese lover, but I'd never considered trying to make my own before. I used lactose-free milk, yoghurt and heavy soy cream (since lactose-free wasn't available at my supermarket) and it turned out great! I can eat lasagne again! Thanks! -
I scaled this recipe down to make 2 cups of ricotta. The amount actually made tallied with the amount predicted :-) I used a thick Greek yoghurt and the cream I used actually was a UHT thick cream but this made no significant difference once the milk was actually boiling. Tastes good too! -
You are right delicious and easy. Made to use in a pasta dish and it is very good. Need to find more recipes to use it up before it goes bad.
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Exactly what other other reviewers have already said: This is easy, delicious and I will be making my own ricotta from now on. This is probably the first time I boiled milk and didn't even scorch it. :-)
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Jangomango
Australia
