Right!
Some of my fondest childhood memories take place at my grandparent's or Nonno and Nonna's house on Sunday nights. Nothing but family, love, and food. Oh, the food!
I'm fairly certain I have been eating ricotta cheese since I could walk. And all the more, loving ricotta cheese since the very first time the yummy, rich, dangerously addictive food reached my mouth. I can just hear my Nonno say, "Lorena, mangia! Mangia!" (Lauren, eat! Eat!) as he heaped a giant spoonful into a bowl. Sometimes, he would mix it with a little bit of jelly or preserves. And other times with a little bit of fresh tomato sauce. Whatever way it was served, I ate it. Happily.
Since, I have been enjoying cooking more of what my family eats from scratch, I set out on a journey to make my own ricotta cheese. When I tell you that this is by far one of the most delicious and easy things to ever grace my kitchen, believe me. I could barely pull myself away from it. I will never, ever buy it pre-made again. Try it, you too, will find it makes you weak in the knees.
Ricotta Cheese
4 cups whole milk
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup heavy cream
Sea salt
*Note: I used all organic dairy and saved a bunch making this myself. Organic ricotta cheese is very pricey and hard to find!
Line a strainer with a triple layered piece of cheese cloth and place it in the sink.
Combine milk, buttermilk, and cream into a sauce pan and heat on medium high.
It will start to slowly boil and solids will start to form. This is the whey (liquid) and the curds beginning to separate. If you have a thermometer, you want it to reach a temperature of 185 degrees. A candy thermometer is best but I don't have one so I used my turkey thermometer. I'm fancy like that.
If you don't have a thermometer, don't worry. You will be able to see this happening. It should take about 10 minutes.
After the curds have formed, remove from heat and use a slotted spoon or hand strainer to scoop out the cheese. Place it in the cheese cloth lined strainer. Every few scoopfuls sprinkle with sea salt.
Now stand over your beautiful creation with a spoon and admire/taste the goodness.
You are welcome, in advance.
Buon Appetito!
