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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

homemade ricotta cheese!

last week i watched this video on how to make ricotta cheese on the dainty vegetarian's blog. as soon as i watched it i couldn't wait to give it a try! we had brad's brother, his wife, and their daughter coming into town on saturday so i decided to make lasagna for dinner so i would have the perfect reason to make ricotta cheese!

i started working on the cheese mid morning and by the time steven, sonia, and lainey got into the town (around lunchtime) the cheese was just about finished! i was very excited and the fam seemed impressed so it was a win/win :)

i'm never buying ricotta again. it does take some time to make the cheese but it is SO worth it!
homemade from now on for me!

ricotta cheese

what you need-

heavy pot
gallon of WHOLE milk
pinch of salt
1/3 cup plus a splash of white distilled vinegar
cheese cloth (can be found at any grocery store. i got my at harris teeter.)
candy thermometer


what you do-

pour the gallon of milk into the heavy pot. warm on medium to medium high until the milk reaches 180*. watch this closely because if the milk gets above 180* it will scold and the cheese will be gross. :)


once the milk has reached 180* turn the heat off. add a big pinch of salt to the milk. then add the vinegar...you will start to see it curdling. mix slightly with a whisk.


put the lid on the pot and let sit for 2 hours.

after 2 hours, put a strainer over a bowl. open the cheese cloth and lay over the strainer.


ladle the cheese mixture into the cheese cloth. let sit 20-30 minutes.


[please ignore how gross i look...friday night was a late one :D]

pick up the cheese cloth with cheese in it and dump into a bowl.


it's that easy to make homemade, beautiful, tasty ricotta cheese!


i made this lasagna but plan on making this spread- (also from the dainty vegetarian)

With the ricotta cheese add a pinch of salt. drizzle olive oil over the cheese. add a handful of shreaded parmasean cheese, some chopped flat leaf parsley and a few grinds of black pepper. stir together and serve with crackers! :)

ps- we had a great time with steven, sonia, and lainey. love!

2 comments:

Rob Powell said...

friday sure was late. loving the blog. can't wait to make some cheese!

Sonia said...

I love this! :)