Ricotta cheese is one of the finest and most preferred cheese varieties. Ricotta in Italian means âre-cookedâ as it is made by cooking whey. It is probably the easiest cheese to make at home. Ricotta can be used in a lot of regular recipes. It is a favorite ingredient to make cheese cakes, strawberry, chocolate cream, brownies and various ice creams. Alternatively, you can also use ricotta to make various dishes and dips. So, are you game for preparing it? Here’s a simple recipe to make recotta. Read on to learn how easily you can go about accomplishing this task.
Complexity Level: Basic
Time Required: 30-45 minutes
Resources Required:
- Stainless steel pot
- Fine colander
- Skimmer
- Cheesecloth
- Cooking thermometer
- Milk- ½ gallon
- Buttermilk or heavy cream- 2 cups
- White Vinegar – 6 tsp
- Salt- ½ tsp
Instructions:
1. Combining the liquids
Collect all the ingredients and keep them near the place where you are going to prepare the dish. Firstly, combine milk, buttermilk and salt in the pot.
2. Heat the mixture
Place the mixture over medium heat and stir for about 20 times in a surface to bottom circular motion for equal redistribution of heat. Maintain a temp of 192-194 degrees. You can use a cooking thermometer to measure the temperature. Pay extra attention while boiling the mixture. Do not let the milk to burn or over boil to jump out of the pot.
3. Acidify the milk
Acidify the mixture by gently pouring the vinegar and stir it in a circular surface to bottom motion.
4. Remove the heat
Cook till the milk thickens at the bottom that indicates the formation of curd. Remove it from heat and let the milk sit for a while, do not stir.
5. Scoop out the curd
Use a skimmer to gently scoop out the curd and place it in the colander wrapped with double cheese cloth. Set it aside for a few minutes and let the liquid drain out.
6. Drain and freeze
After the liquid is drained. Wrap the freshly prepared ricotta tightly in the cloth, place in an container and refrigerate for a few hours. Your ricotta is ready to be consumed within 3-4 days.
Frequently Asked Question:
How do I thicken ricotta cheese?
Before you use your ricotta cheese in a recipe, let it strain in colander wrapped with cheese cloth for an hour or less. This will further reduce the moisture and thicken the cheese. Also, while cooking, mix the ricotta cheese with a little parmesan cheese. The heat will cause more moisture to be released from the ricotta and parmesan will absorb the excess moisture to avoid sogginess in your food.
Quick Tips:
- Prefer using distilled white vinegar and avoid flavored vinegar as the flavor will impart its taste in the final product.
- Ricotta does not keep well with freezing. Keep it chilled and use within 3-4 days.
Things to watch out for:
- Make sure that you do not use ultra pasteurized milk as it is heated to a very high temperature to kill the micro-organisms. The milk also loses its ability to make cheese in the process. Pasteurized milk is preferable as they form better curd.
- While scooping out the curd from the heated mixture, use gentle hands and try to avoid the curd to break away in the liquid.
- Make sure you use an air-tight container to freeze the freshly prepared ricotta.
