How to make ricotta cheese

How to make homemade ricotta cheese

How to make ricotta cheese

18 February 2016

How to make ricotta cheese

Ricotta is surprisingly simple to make at home and requires just three ingredients: milk, lemon juice and salt. Using whole milk not only gives the ricotta its rich, creamy mouthfeel, but also results in a better yield than semi-skimmed.

The main benefit of making ricotta yourself is that you have complete control over the quantity you make and also how long you leave it to hang, altering the finished texture.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

  • 1l whole milk
  • 20ml of distilled vinegar
  • 1 pinch of salt
1
Place the milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan with a pinch of salt and begin to heat
2
Bring to 93°C and stir through the distilled vinegar or lemon juice
3
Remove from the heat and stir for a couple of minutes before leaving to stand for 10–15 minutes
4
Use a slotted spoon to remove the solid curds from the pan, leaving the yellowish whey in the bottom. Place the solid curds in a large sieve
5
Leave to drain for anything from 30 minutes for soft ricotta to overnight for a much firmer texture
6
Store the ricotta in your chosen container and refrigerate. Use within 3 days

Serving suggestions

Emanuele Scarello mixes ricotta with herbs to create a silky smooth mousse in his Turbot, mustard sauce and egg recipe and Fabrizio Marino uses it as part of his Gourmet pizza. Giuseppe D'Aquino makes tasty ricotta croquettes to serve alongside his Lamb and sweetbreads, while Gaetano Trovato uses it as a filling for his Ravioli with tomato sauce.

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