Homemade Fresh Ricotta
After reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, I’ve really wanted to make my own cheese, and ricotta seems the easiest way to start. Anyone ever made any? xx Nora
Adapted from “Michael Chiarello’s Casual Cooking” (Chronicle, 2002). Via NYT.
Time: 1 hour
2 quarts whole milk
2 cups buttermilk.
1. Line a wide sieve or colander with cheesecloth, folded so that it is at least 4 layers thick. Place in sink.
2. Pour milk and buttermilk into a heavy-bottomed pot. Cook over high heat, stirring frequently; scrape bottom of pot occasionally to prevent scorching. As milk heats, curds will begin to rise and clump on surface. Once mixture is steaming hot, stop stirring.
3. When mixture reaches 175 to 180 degrees on a candy thermometer, curds and whey will separate. (Whey will look like cloudy gray water underneath a mass of thick white curds.) Immediately turn off heat and gently ladle curds into sieve.
4. When all curds are in sieve and dripping has slowed (about 5 minutes), gently gather edges of cloth and twist to bring curds together; do not squeeze. Let drain 15 minutes more. Discard the whey.
5. Untie cloth and pack ricotta into airtight containers. Refrigerate and use within one week.
Yield: About 2 cups; can be doubled.
