You Gotta Make Ricotta

   

 La Cucina Italiana magazine is a favorite along with my de rigueur Gourmet and Bon Appetite’s. As I flipped through it I saw a short informative article about ricotta cheese written by Erica De Mane and her recipe followed.

The house was unusually and happily empty. The weather was a bit too chilly for my taste for any out door activities. I had all the ingredients so why not? Well, that was the dangerous thing. It was so good! The grilled ciabatta slices with ricotta, Parma ham and roasted tomatoes were nice. So was the eggplant “lasagna” with ricotta and spinach filling. Ricotta, peaches and strawberry short cakes weren’t awful to eat. And the toasted brioche with ricotta and honey in the morning wasn’t hard to choke down either. I am talking serious danger here but there is good news for the hips. Ricotta cheese is relatively low in fat about five percent (as long as you don’t make it with the heavy cream – it’s good without it and fabulous with it!).  

  Searching for or developing the perfect recipe, is always on my mind when I read my cookbooks or cooking magazines. As I have said before, some recipes you come across just don’t work or are too complicated. That is why this is a real find. It’s delicious, simple and a new one for the repertoire. Once you make this you will be hard pressed to buy a container of ricotta at the grocery store. 

Next week, when I whip up another batch of this snow-white sensation, I am going to make the famous "Three Cities of Spain"  cheesecake, substituting boring cream cheese for my wonderful ricotta.   Oh, I can’t wait!.

Just a few tips when you make this. Make sure you use a large enough saucepan; I used my 9-quart Le Creuset round oven pan, which was perfect for the full recipe. Also, make sure you have a large colander to drain the ricotta; I ended up using two smaller ones, which did not affect the outcome, just gave me more to clean up. The actual cooking/simmering took twice as long as the recipe said but that could have been due to me being extra careful. Be generous with the cheesecloth when you line the sieve, let the cheesecloth fall over the edges. It will make it easier to lift and drain the cheese.   Let me know what you think about this one. 

Homemade ricotta*

1 hour, 20 minutes, plus chilling – about 4 cups

1-gallon whole milk

1-pint heavy cream (optional)

1-quart buttermilk

½ teaspoon salt

Line a large sieve with a layer of heavy-duty (fine-mesh) cheesecloth and place over large bowl. In a large saucepan, slowly bring the milk, cream, buttermilk and salt to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching, until little bubbles form on the surface, about 10 minutes.   Let the mixture bubble gently, without stirring until the temperature reaches 170 ° F on an instant read thermometer – curds will begin to form.   Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes without stirring (the whey will begin to separate from the creamy white curds). Gently pour or ladle the ricotta into the sieve, including any curds that have settled in the bottom.   Let drain for an hour, until most of the liquid runs off, but the ricotta is still moist. Chill covered until ready to serve.   The ricotta will keep up to four days in the refrigerator.

* Recipe from Erica De Mane – La Cucina Italiana, April 2008