Homemade Ricotta

This recipe just can’t get any easier.

This recipe doesn’t make a large batch but you can make it twice, I did and we ate it all!

Ingredients:

4 cups whole milk

1 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup heavy cream

Salt

Preparation:

Line a strainer with about 4 layers of cheesecloth.  Set over a medium sized bowl.

Combine milk, buttermilk and cream in a medium sized heavy saucepan and heat over medium-high heat.

Bring to a bowl.  Boil until you see the curds (solid white parts are separated from the liquid whey). This should take about 10 minutes.  Stir a couple of times during boiling. Curds will be small.

Remove from heat and pour a little into your cheesecloth, sprinkle with a little salt , pour some more and sprinkle salt again.

Gather up your cheesecloth as pictured above and hang or set over a small cup to drain.

I don’t like my ricotta too dry so I don’t drain it too much.  If you like it drier, give it a squeeze.

Also, I don’t pour the whey down the drain right away. 

When I take the ricotta out of the cheesecloth and put it into a bowl I like to put a few tablespoons of the whey into the cheese because I like my ricotta a little looser.

When I get it to the consistency I like, I’ll discard the rest of the whey.

Next step:  Eat it while its warm! 

Enjoy!