Milk, lemon juice, and a wee bit of your time is all you need to make your own creamy fresh homemade ricotta. Once you make your own ricotta, it will be hard to go back to the store kind. It really does only take a wee bit of time. All you do is bring the milk almost to a simmer, add fresh lemon juice, and then let it sit for 15 minutes while it curdles and them let it strain while you continue to work on the rest of your meal. Once it is done straining, your ricotta is ready for your lasagna, ravioli, manicotti, cheesecake, or whatever delicious plans you have in store. You will be hooked immediately!!
Ingredients:
8 1/2 cups of whole milk (just a wee bit over a half gallon)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt (can be left out if you are on a salt free diet)
Directions:
1) Heat milk in a medium size sauce pan/pot using medium heat. Heat it till the milk reaches 194 degrees F or 90 degrees C. Takes around 5 minutes or so. Remove from heat once it reaches the required temperature.
2) Stir in the lemon juice slowly and add the salt. Let it stand for 10-15 minutes. The milk will curdle.
3) While your milk is curdling, line a fine meshed strainer with a cheesecloth and place over a large bowl. Once you have let the milk stand, pour carefully into the lined strainer and let it strain for 15 minutes. I like the ricotta to be as dry as possible. Discard the liquid (whey) or look up recipes/uses for the whey. It can be used in smoothies!!
Cheers, Drew Frederic
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