There are times when it is really nice to make something of your own, like this homemade ricotta cheese. The recipe is easy and straightforward enough for you to quickly whip up. Sometimes it is easier and cheaper to make something from scratch instead of buying it. If you have wonderful amounts of ricotta cheese available in the stores near you, then go buy them, that is the way to go. Unless you need lots of it, then it will be cheaper to make it.
How to make ricotta cheese?
For this to work you will need two things, and those are:
- Half & Half, or more popularly is known as 10% heavy cream;
- Full fat milk, pasteurized works, but UHT won’t look for these indicators on the package;
- Lemon juice and/or vinegar, I used a little bit of both to get the curdling of the milk;
- Salt, because, well, salt.
Everything except the vinegar and lemon juice gets heated, then the acids are added and everything is left to curdle. After that, all that is left to do is to strain until the mixture has cooled and that is it!
Can you freeze ricotta?
You can freeze ricotta cheese but the texture won’t be the same. So it wouldn’t work in all recipes. This happens due to the high moisture content of ricotta cheese.
There are many ways that you can enjoy ricotta, many cakes and dessert recipes that call for it, and many lasagnas and other cheesy dishes where you can use it. For this authentic ricotta cheese recipe, I will enjoy it in my favorite way. Whipped ricotta with some nice sourdough and a salad. I also added some oven-roasted tomatoes that I later pressed and burst on the toast. It all turned out to become some kind of homemade ricotta cheese bruschetta with sourdough and burst cherry tomatoes.
Since it is summertime and everything is in season, I made a quick fresh salad drizzled with some olive oil and balsamico to cut through the softness and sweetness of the ricotta bruschettas. You can have any bread you like with this, and even just toast it in the toaster. I wanted some nice crispiness so I toasted some nice sourdough slices in the same pan that I used for the burst tomatoes.
This is a true and tested charcuterie board, cheese platter, salad, and any kind of celebration addition. Just a bunch of tomatoes, drizzled with oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and cooked under the broiler until they burst. And you are left with jammy soft tomatoes to smash on your bread.
You can also simply enjoy it on a slice of bread. It is truly wonderful. Just thrown in the food processor, added some oil, honey, and spices, and whip it. You can add anything else you would like, lemon, chilies, sundried tomatoes, garlic, anything.
This is my favorite summertime lunch. Seems so simple and frugal, but the magic is in the right ingredients.
Homemade ricotta cheese
Equipment
- Cheesecloth, colander, mixer
Ingredients
Homemade ricotta cheese
- 500 ml half and half 10% heavy cream
- 750-1 l whole milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Whipped ricotta
- 300 g homemade ricotta
- 100 ml extra virgin or regular olive oil
- ½ tsp honey
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- Any aditional spices you would like
Instructions
Homemade ricotta:
- In a pot add the milk and the cream with salt, and heat until the first bubble
- Then add in the vinegar and lemon juice, and stir
- Let sit for 5-10 minutes
- Pour in a cheesecloth lined colander and let drain until cooled or longer
- The longer you drain, the firmer the cheese will be
- Squeeze out excess liquid and place in an airtight container
- This made 300 g ricotta that will keep good in the fridge for 3-5 days.
Whipped ricotta:
- Place all the ingredients in a food processor or use a hand mixer
- Whip until smooth and creamy