Ricotta, for real!

I have ventured into new territory: cheese making. As in, making homemade ricotta. My friend Amy P., an amazing human being, shared this with me. She saw it on an awesome blog called smitten kitchen (see the blog roll). The original recipe is here.

The finished product!

Yummy Ricotta

3 1/4 cups whole milk
3/4  cup heavy cream 
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pour the milk, cream and salt into a 3-quart nonreactive saucepan. Attach a candy or deep-fry thermometer. Heat the milk to 190°F, stirring it occasionally to keep it from scorching on the bottom. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, then stir it once or twice, gently and slowly. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.

Line a colander with a few layers of cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl. Pour the curds and whey into the colander and let the curds strain for at least an hour. At an hour, you’ll have a tender, spreadable ricotta. At two hours, it will be spreadable but a bit firmer, almost like cream cheese. (It will firm as it cools, so do not judge its final texture by what you have in your cheesecloth.) Eat the ricotta right away or transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use. Makes about 1 generous cup of ricotta.

Bowl and sieve with cheesecloth

Best served with pita wedges, fresh ground pepper, a drizzle of honey and a bit of basil chiffonade.  UNBELIEVABLE!

Maybe I am Italian, after all? 

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