Homemade Ricotta

The finished ricotta

I was given a cheese making kit for Christmas and it’s taken me a little bit of time to get started with it, but now that I’ve tried it, I’m hooked. Ricotta is another really simple cheese to make, and gives you a really creamy, fresh tasting cheese. I think you can definitely taste the difference when compared to the store bought alternatives, and with such a simple ingredient list, it’s cheap to make as well.

This recipe made about 700g of ricotta and it takes about an hour plus setting time. There are quite a few cheese kits on the market that will include most of the equipment you need, or alternatively you can buy all of these items on Amazon.

Ingredients

8 Pints of Milk

1.5 Teaspoons of citric acid

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Lemon Pepper (or any other herb you fancy - dried basil, dill tops, chilli flakes)

Equipment

Cheese Cloth

Cooking Thermometer

2 x Plastic Cheese Moulds - 300 - 400g capacity

Colander

1. Boil 50 ml of water and allow it to cool to room temperature.

2. Add the citric acid and stir until dissolved.

3. Add the milk to a large pot and stir in the water/citric acid mixture.

4. Heat the milk over a low heat. Using the thermometer, heat the milk to 87 degrees. Stir gently, every few minutes or so to avoid the milk catching on the bottom of the pan. Don’t over stir. You will see the curds forming as you heat the milk.

5. Once the milk gets to 87 degrees (don’t let it boil), turn off the heat and cover. Leave the mixture for another 20 minutes to let more curds form.

6. Place the cheese cloth inside a colander over the sink. Pore the mixture (careful, it will still be hot) into the cheese cloth, allowing the liquid to drain off and the curds to stay in the cloth.

7. Stir in the salt and lemon pepper (or any other herb you fancy)

8. Leave the cheese to drain for 10 minutes.

9. Transfer the cheese into the cheese moulds. Fill them right to the top, they will continue to drain.

10. Place them in the fridge, over a dish that will catch extra liquid.

11. Leave them to set for at least 2 hours, or over night. Once the cheese has set you can turn them out of their moulds and transfer them to a Tupperware container to keep for up to a week.

See my Green Frittata recipe for recipe ideas.

The milk curdling

The Ricotta setting

Recipe ideas! A Ricotta Frittata