What's not to love about creamy, airy ricotta cheese? It's diversity makes it one of my favorites as I can stuff ravioli with it, make lasagna, or use it as a simple spread on some toasted bread. Drizzle it with some balsamic vinegar or lavender honey or spread it on some figs. The possibilities are all guaranteed tastiness and I most likely will never use store bought, bland ricotta again! I never realized how easy it was to make until I did a little online research and found a good recipe from Ina Garten. The only difference in my recipe is I did not bring the milk to a boil, but rather followed several other recipe suggestions to bring it to 190 degrees.
INGREDIENTS
4 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbs sea salt
3 tbs white vinegar
Yields about 2 cups once strained
In a stainless steel or ceramic pot, bring the milk and cream to about 190 degrees. This should take about 7 minutes on med-high.
Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar and let sit for about 5 minutes until it begins to curdle.
Place a mesh sieve lined with two layers of cheesecloth over a deep bowl or pot and pour the mixture in and let it drain for one hour, or two hours for firmer cheese (better for ravioli and lasagna).
This is what it looked like after one hour.
After 1.5 hours I put it in an airtight container. It will last for 4 days in the fridge.
Drizzle with lavender honey (Simply soak lavender leaves in honey overnight, discard leaves and you will have a lovely, fragrant honey)
What was your final yield -- quantity-wise?
ReplyDeleteDrizzled with lavender honey? Oh my. Heaven.
ReplyDeleteI love that this recipe doesn't call for buttermilk, but vinegar instead. It would make it much easier to whip up on a whim, since I usually don't keep buttermilk on hand.