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My good friend Jenny makes cheese for a living. All day, everyday, it’s what-she-does. I personally find that not only awesome, but totally intriguing. I mean, how many people can tell you on a whim how to make like, 500 different kinds of cheese?! She can! I obviously begged her to teach me her ways… and she said YES. That’s friendship, y’all.
Since I am not at all a professional cheese maker, we decided to start small and make a batch of ricotta. I use ricotta all the time! But the idea of making it at home seemed… I don’t know, unnatural? Scary? Impossible? Oh wait, I know, all of those – and then some!
But guess what?
The recipe was unbelievably simple, and the ingredient list, even simpler. Score, baby!
Although I was weary I’d fail this curd experiment and be left with nothing but tears and a giant mess, it ended up being a delicious success. Honestly, you guys have to try this at home. It took about 45 minutes start to finish, and the results were incredible. Let’s just say I’ll never be buying my ricotta in a tub from the grocery store again!
Once you go homemade, you’ll never stray! I promise 🙂
Homemade Ricotta Cheese – Recipe from Jenny (thanks girl!!! xo)
Ingredients:
3 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
* We served this on a freshly baked baguette topped with basil, roasted tomatoes, and a drizzle of balsamic. It was GOOD!
Instructions:
In a heavy bottomed saucepan combine the milk, heavy cream, vinegar and salt. Place the pan over a medium high flame and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer the mixture for about 2 minutes, you’ll see curds starting to form (omg! exciting stuff!!!).
At this point you want to line a mesh strainer with a few layers of damp cheesecloth. Carefully pour the curds and whey through into the strainer and drain for about 15 minutes. Gently gather the cheesecloth together and gently squeeze some of the excess liquid from the ricotta. Transfer the ricotta to a serving dish and drizzle with olive oil. Serve with baguette and any topping you’d like!
I was wondering about how much ricotta this recipe will make. It looks amazing and would love to try it
It’s been awhile since the last post but I was wondering …. What do you do with the liquid you strain? Can you use it for anything else or maybe there isn’t much of it left? I want to try making this ricotta soon so I can make the ricotta pancakes. Thanks so much!!!
Hi Crystal. You just discard the liquid 🙂
The leftover whey can be used in place of water in any baking recipe, or blend in with your smoothies.
Hi there!
I stumbled upon your blog when I was looking for a way to make ricotta for grilled zucchini stacks. I live in India and we don’t have easy access to ricotta here. Turns out, what we call paneer is very similar to ricotta! Colloquially, paneer is called cottage cheese, but I’ve had cottage cheese in the US, and paneer seems to share greater similarities with ricotta than cottage cheese in terms of the method, the consistency, and the texture. I make paneer at home once a week at least, but I don’t use cream; I just use full-fat milk. Thanks for this recipe — it’ll be interesting to try this with cream. More creamy goodness! Cheers!
You’re so welcome, Dee! Enjoy 🙂
I never would have thought making cheese would be that easy!