What’d You Do Last Weekend?
Heading to a party where there will be lots of wine, and not sure what to take? How about some simple savory cookies - biscotti and sables made for wine pairing?
Homemade Ricotta
After turning some beautiful raw goat milk into chevre and feta, I’ve taken a shine to making my own fresh cheese. I don’t do it that often, but I’ve found that for the most part, fresh cheeses are easy to make and the techniques are pretty similar across all of them. Whenever a recipe calls for something I can make myself (and provided I have the time), I give it a try. I was really happy with homemade cream cheese I’d made a few months ago, so I decided to give whole-milk ricotta a try too.
Making homemade ricotta is like making paneer – one of the easiest fresh cheeses to make, and unlike chevre and feta, ricotta does not require a special culture to turn it into cheese. It’s a matter of heating some milk, adding a little citric acid, letting it curd, and then draining it until it reaches the texture you want. Easy cheesy, as I’d have said as a kid.
Homemade Ricotta
1 gal whole pasteurized milk
2 tsp citric acid
1 tsp salt
1 c cool water
- Pour the milk into a large stainless steel pot.
- Add the citric acid to the cup of cool water and add half of the citric acid solution to the milk. Stir briskly until well mixed.
- Add the salt to the pot and stir well.
- Heat the milk slowly on low to medium to avoid scorching.
- At 165F to 170F, watch for small flakes forming in the milk. If you do not see small flakes forming, add the citric acid 1 T at a time until you begin to see flakes.
- Continue heating the milk until it reaches 190F to 195F. Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner.
- As the curds rise, use a perforated ladle to move them from the sides to the center of the pot. Curds should begin to lump in the liquid. Let the curds rest for 10 – 15 minutes.
- Ladle the curds into a cheesecloth-lined colander and let the curds drain for 15 minutes up to several hours, or until they reach the texture you want.
Makes 12 – 16oz
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