How To Make Homemade Ricotta

How T0 Make Homemade Ricotta (La Ricotta di Comare Maria). The most luscious, creamy, silky, ricotta cheese with amazing rich flavor, perfect on its own and will dazzle any recipe it graces.

Song of the day: “Mano nella Mano” by Michele Zarrillo.

How to make Ricotta Cheese, is a beautiful recipe given to us by my Godmother Comare Maria, and the end result is a ricotta cheese that is out of this world good. Its smoothness will have you wanting more and its flavor pure decadence!

How to……….. if you asked my godmother she would be telling you it is easy, using hand gestures and a narration of ‘some of this and some of that’. When I asked her about measurements she said “it is all by eye and that sometimes the recipe works and sometimes it doesn’t“. When I asked her why it doesn’t work sometimes she responded simple by saying “I don’t know“. So I am warning you ahead of time, this recipe is a trial and error proposition and demands some time and attention.

A little about my godmother. She is Italian, of course, and comes from a Region called Calabria close to a place called Cosenza. In this region of Italy you will find many an old family recipe all done by feel and eye. My godmather has always been there for me and I am grateful to have her in my life. I call her once a week to see how she is doing and sadly I lost my godfather Giacomo last year. I could not have asked for better godparents and my childhood is filled with wonderful memories of time spent at their house or them visting us. There is a perk with this relationship, I also inherit great recipies like one we shared for Valentine’s day chocolate, which we made with her.  Let’s tone up our sense of sight, feel and smell and get to making this wonderful Ricotta cheese!

Down to the basement kitchen and learning How to Make Ricotta Cheese (La Ricotta di Comare Maria).

First things first you need a large pot as Comare Maria doesn’t scrimp on ingredients and says when she makes it she makes quite a bit and shares some with family and friends. Lucky for us! Lol.

So into the pot goes homogenized whole milk, whipping cream, and half and half cream. Oh, don’t waste any of that milk or cream left in the carton. A little water and a swish and in goes into the pot. Once the mixture becomes warm and you see the fine bubbles start to appear around the edges and steam is coming off the top it is time for the white vinegar. You could use lemon juice but Comare Maria says it tastes stronger and vinegar works better. I am not going to be the one to argue with an Italian lady let alone my comare. A generous pinch of salt, then some time to stir. I am not giving measurements, that you will have to go to the recipe to find. This is just an overview of our experience with the recipe. We did add a bit more vinegar and 2 % milk as Comare said it was not forming enough curds and it was a bit too rich. Once those curds start to form after a time of stirring with a wooden spoon, it is time to start scooping up those creamy wonders and this ‘how to’ goes into the next phase of Ricotta making.

With a slotted spoon and a large sieve sitting a top a large bowl we begin the process of collecting all the curds. Oh, don’t throw out that liquid it is absolutely delicious to drink. Similar to a kefir. I truly enjoyed my glass.  Now back to the ricotta. Once it is drained, it is scooped into some cheese baskets. If you do not have those, a simple tupperware will do. Refrigerate, and this ricotta will last about a week to ten days.

My comare Maria says she freezes it and then thaws it when she needs it. I am not a big fan of freezing but if she says it is good I imagine it is and I have tasted the ricotta. It is really hard to buy the store brands as here in Alberta we have found it dfficult to find that creamy rich smooth consistency that we love. The great thing is now we have the recipe and the world of Ricotta Cheese is our oyster.  I love eating the ricotta like that, just spoon after spoon of richness and luxurious soft cheese with that incredible whole fresh flavor.

We have made roasted pear ricotta scones, and also roasted cherry ricotta scones amongst many other dishes including our favorite lemon ricotta pancakes.  I gave some to a friend and he made stuffed eggplant rounds and a creamy asparagus soup. It has received grand reviews and any one who tries it loves it and wants more. We better get back to the kitchen and make more, the demand is high. This brings us to the end of our How to make Ricotta Cheese (La Ricotta di Comare Maria). I hope you have fun trying this recipe and most of all, enjoy!

Song of the day: “Mano nella Mano” by Michele Zarrillo.

How To Make Homemade Ricotta

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• Author: Loreto
• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 6 cups ricotta cheese
• Category: How to
• Method: stovetop boiling
• Cuisine: Italian

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Description

How T0 Make Homemade Ricotta (La Ricotta di Comare Maria). The most luscious, creamy, silky, ricotta cheese with amazing rich flavor, perfect on its own and will dazzle any recipe it graces.

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Ingredients

• 4 litres of Homogenized Milk
• 1 litre 10% cream
• 1 litre 33%cream
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1 Tbsp fine sea salt
• 3/4 cup white vinegar

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Instructions

1. Pour homogenized milk, 10% cream, 33% cream, into a large pot. Wash milk and cream containers with 1/4 cup of water in each swish and pour into pot. Pour in 2% milk and place pot on stove med to high heat. Stir with a wooden spoon constantly, making sure milk is not scalding on bottom of pan.
2. Slowly sprinkle in salt and keep stirring.
3.  When mixture starts to look thicker and foamy on top with little bubbles forming on the side of the pot pour in 1/2 cup of the white vinegar. Keep stirring and if after about 5 minutes you don’t see a lot of curds forming add in the last 1/4 cup of the white vinegar.
4. When curds are forming nicely take a slotted spoon and skim the curds off the top and place into a large strainer over a large bowl. Keep doing this until all the curds are taken.
5. Let the curds drain and when liquid is no longer dripping from the bottom of the strainer scoop the ricotta cheese into cheese baskets or if you do not have those place in a tupperware and let cool with lid off.
6. If using  cheese baskets  when cool place in a tupperware and pour a bit of the liquid from the bowl and cover. Put ricotta in fridge. When chilled it is ready to serve.
7. If using tupperware just place lid on after cooling and place in fridge.

Enjoy!

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Notes

1. The ricotta will last for about 7 to 10 days refridgerated.
2. The leftover liquid can be bottled and drunk if you want. It is similar to kefir in flavor. If not just discard.