Aug 31

Aug 31 Ina's (kinda, sorta) Homemade Ricotta

~ For Nick and Kyra who each asked with mouths' full, 'is this on the blog?' ~

Miss Muffet of nursery rhyme fame and an early fan of ricotta.

Even if you don't know Italian, or even Latin — you may know that ricotta translates as 'recooked'. Well, this is just cooked the one time, (unless you count the pasteurization process at the dairy), but we can forgive Ina Garten because she is in all ways, wonderful.

Here in Vermont, we can get wonderful dairy products including this Jersey cow cream, which is so rich and full of delicious fat, it is almost the color of butter. The milk is from the KImball Brook Farm, just down the road.

When you start with such great ingredients, is there any wonder the result is so yummy? People will be so impressed with this, even though it is dead easy. And speaking of ingredients, there is a fairly hilarious discussion in the comments section of this recipe on the Food Network website. The takeaway is that you can't use ultra-pasteurized milk or cream in this recipe, or expect Ina to respond to each comment personally.

Ina's (kinda, sorta) Homemade Ricotta

4 cups Whole Milk

2 Cups Heavy Cream

1 Teaspoon Salt

3 Tablespoons Good Quality White Wine or Cider Vinegar

Directions

Rinse with water and wring out 2 layers of cheesecloth until damp. Use it to line a large, fine sieve. I cut mine into a square which covers the sieve completely with some extra. Place cheesecloth and sieve over a large, deep bowl and set aside.

Pour the milk and cream into a stainless-steel pot (enameled like Le Creuset works too), add the salt. Bring to a full boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Once the mixture boils, turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar. Allow the mixture to stand for 1 minute until it curdles. It will separate into thick parts (the curds) and milky parts (the whey) and not look very appetizing at all.

Slowly pour the mixture into the cheesecloth-lined sieve and allow it to drain into the bowl at room temperature for 20 to 25 minutes, occasionally discarding the liquid that collects in the bowl. You can pour the curds and whey in stages if necessary.

The longer the mixture drains, the thicker the cheese. I like mine on the thick side, because when I add herbs to some of it later, it loosens up a bit. This is how it looks when you first pile it into the sieve.

After it has drained, and is cool enough to handle — I carefully pick up the four corners of the cheese cloth and carefully wring out the ricotta, forming a nice ball. You can pass on this if you want.

Transfer the ricotta to a glass bowl, discarding the cheesecloth and any remaining whey. Use immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. The ricotta will keep refrigerated for 4 to 5 days.

Now that you have this magical stuff, there's really no end to what you can do with it. It's the perfect palette to paint your culinary art. Sweet or savory, it can do it all.

For a quick, colorful hors d'oeuvre in the summer time, I chop up a variety of fresh herbs from the garden (parsley, basil, chives work well) and mix them in, with some salt and pepper, and a bit of garlic. Best to assemble them on site, so they don't get soggy. And speaking of soggy, Nancy reminded me that the crostini should cool completely before you store them, this way they stay crisp. When you're ready to serve, schmear the herbed ricotta on to crostini and top with roasted tomatoes. Yum.