Home Made Ricotta

Home Made Ricotta

7 Comments , , , Edit

There is a restaurant/store in our town that has the most delicious ricotta ever.  Unfortunately, they had a huge amount of damage during Hurricane Irene and have been closed since.  I hear they will be opening sometime this month, and I can't wait!  In the meantime, I decided to try making my own ricotta.  Here's the scoop:

First, I warmed a half-gallon of grass-fed milk until it was about 190 degrees.
While it was heating up, I juiced a lemon.
When the milk was at the right temperature, I added in 4 tablespoons of lemon juice. That is supposed to get the cheesey curds to separate from the whey. 
It didn't really work, so I added in 4 more tablespoons of white vinegar.  Then, we got some action.
I strained out the curds and placed them gently into cheesecloth over a colander over a bowl to let the whey drain out.
The finished product?
It was very tasty, but not as good as the restaurant ricotta.  That is probably because theirs is REAL ricotta, made from whey left from making mozzarella, and mine wasn't.  Either way, I ate it and it was delish.  AND I had all this whey leftover!
Stay tuned to see what recipes all these goodies made it into.

This post was shared with the Hearth and Soul Bloghop, Real Food Wednesday, and Your Green Resource!

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7 comments:

  1. ZoëJanuary 18, 2012 at 9:24 PM

    I made ricotta recently, too. Mine always ends up kind of dry, even if I'm careful not to let it drain to long. I need to perfect the recipe, though. With all the milk we have, it's ridiculous for me to buy dairy products that are easily made at home :)

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  2. ZoëJanuary 18, 2012 at 9:24 PM

    P.S. Whey makes very good bread!

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    Replies
    1. Jackie @ Crest CottageJanuary 18, 2012 at 9:35 PM

      Hi Zoe! How have you been!? It wasn't as creamy as I would have liked, but it was pretty good. I did make bread with the whey!

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    2. ZoëJanuary 24, 2012 at 8:02 PM

      Good! Just waiting for the baby, now...I'm in the uncomfortable "get this thing out of me" stage :)

      I saw your bread recipe. Way to go! I'll need to make bread again this week. Maybe I should make more cheese so I have more whey...

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 19, 2012 at 6:59 PM

    I make ricotta with milk, heavy cream and lemon juice. It's delicious and soooo creamy! it looks different than yours, as well. It's more creamy without those big curds. I'll be sharing my recipe in a few day on my blog...

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  4. April @ The 21st Century HousewifeJanuary 23, 2012 at 7:08 AM

    Thank you for sharing your experience making ricotta with us at the Hearth and Soul hop. I have never made ricotta myself, but it looks very do-able, and your finished results look delicious.

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  5. Alea MilhamJanuary 24, 2012 at 1:55 AM

    I love making things from scratch - it gives me such a sense of accomplishment. Your ricoota looks moist and tasty and I bet you will not be able to distinguish it from the restaurant's cheese once it is in a dish. Thank you for sharing this wonderful tutorial with the Hearth and Soul Hop.

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