Whole Milk Ricotta - Cheesepalooza

Cheesepalooza has begun and my mom and I  will be making a new and delicious cheese each month for the next year!

The first challenge was whole milk ricotta which was nice and easy for us cheese newbies. Ricotta has never been a cheese that I've really snacked on before - I buy it to add to pastas or desserts but I usually leave snacking to cheeses like cheddars or brie. But this fluffy, creamy, sweet and ever-so-slightly salty cheese is so good on it's own that I already have plans to make another batch and double it so that I'll have some to give away.


Since the ricotta is made out of just milk, cream, citric acid (or lemon juice), and salt it was important to get really good quality milk for the challenge. We picked up some non-homogenized organic whole milk that put my regular milk's flavor to shame.  Before we started on the recipe we took the milk and cream out of the fridge to get some of the chill off of it and bring it closer to room temp.

 

Then we gathered our cheese making gear and washed and sanitized it with diluted bleach. Since we aren't aging the cheese bacteria isn't as big of a threat to the end result of the recipe, but we both agreed that it was good to get into the habit of creating a very sanitized work space so that by the time making cheddar and Parmesan rolls around it will be like a second nature (hopefully..)

Once the gear was dry we added the milk, cream, salt, and a teaspoon of citric acid to the pot. The recipe states that lemon juice can be added as a substitute which is great because this is an easy enough recipe to pass along to friends who probably don't have citric acid laying around the house.

Then we heated the milk slowly.. very ..very VERY slowly. Since this was our first time (and we only had milk on hand for one batch) we didn't want to scorch the milk and ruin it. The book (we're working out of Artisan Cheese Making at Home) said it should take around 20 minutes to get the mixture up to 185-195F and it took us around 40-45 minutes.

Overly cautious? Probably. Luckily we both found staring at the slowly curdling milk interesting enough to pass the time.

 

Once the milk reached 190f and curdled we took it off the heat and let it sit for ten minutes before carefully ladling it into a cheese cloth over a strainer.

Then we moved the draining cheese over to this contraption of elegant beauty. I noticed that many people just tied the cheese cloth to their tap over their sink to let it drain. We decided to go hardware store chic with a neon orange bucket and half a broom stick. 



After half an hour of draining we untied the cloth to reveal some very promising looking ricotta...

 

The curds were fluffy, creamy, and sweet with hints of salt. It was so much better than any ricotta I've ever tried before. I have read on a few other posts that whey ricotta (ricotta made with the by-product of other cheeses) is tastier than whole milk ricotta. If that's true then I am really looking forward to trying it because this version is already so freaking delicious.

 

 

 

(Excuse the instagram photo.. dinner time = bad lighting)

My parents enjoyed their ricotta on top of slices of fresh summer tomatoes. I ate some plain, added some to my pasta, and then saved the rest to have tomorrow on toast with a drizzle of olive oil.

I can't believe it's already gone! Looks like we're just going to have to make another batch.

Tasting Notes for Whole Milk Ricotta:

• Appearance: Large curds made out of smaller grains
• Nose (aroma): Not very much, mostly a cream scent
• Overall Taste: Cream flavored with bits of salt and sweet combined
• Sweet to Salty: sweet
• Mild (mellow) to Robust to Pungent (stinky): Mild!!
• Mouth Feel: (gritty, sandy, chewy, greasy, gummy, etc.): Extremely soft and creamy

For the challenges we will not be posting the recipes from the Artisian Cheese Making at Home (go out and grab a copy if you are interested in making cheese, there is a lot of great information in there along with the recipes). However you can easily find many a version of whole milk ricotta online if you can't wait to give cheese making a try!

Comments

[Rachele]

Squeeeee! I am so excited to read about your cheese adventures!

[A Canadian Foodie]

What a great read! I am so glad that you had the same experience as I did with regard to the homemade version being so much better than anything tasted prior. Now you know why I have made so many batches! I have heard from Ian that the longer you take to heat your milk, the better your cheese will be. I have always been as slow or slower than the recipes, but as we used the same milk, it is odd mine was so different than yours. Thrilled you liked it. What a fun mother and daughter activity - especially later. I love it when Addie and I made cheese together as it is so much more fun that by myself - and it helps to "think out loud" and have someone to talk to when stirring for 40 minutes!!
So excited you are participating in Cheesepalooza with all of us!
:)
Valerie

[Nic]

This looks amazing, your photos are beautiful! I find it quite difficult to photograph cheese, I think I'm running out of styling ideas and having seen your photos I definitely think I need to get more creative. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Mary at n00bcakes]

How cool! I haven't heard of this "Cheesapalooza"; I'm looking forward to your monthly posts of new cheesiness. I've actually made ricotta once before but my product wasn't nearly as pretty as yours. Sounds delicious!

[TasteHongKong]

Making cheese at home could be addictive as the experience is always exciting.

[Samantha]

Yum! Ricotta is my favourite. I like to eat it on toast with honey! Or with berries! Let's make cheese ALL THE TIME.

[Eileen]

Hooray for home cheesemaking! I definitely want to hop on this delicious bandwagon. :)

[laurel]

Great idea with the big bucket! I couldn't think of where to strain mine-next time, right?! I am doing cheesepalooza with my mom, also, and it is so fun!

[Stefanie @ Sarcastic Cooking]

Wow! You make it look so easy! I can't wait to try this! I have been wanting to do this for a while!

[Kankana]

It's very similar to making paneer (Indian cottage cheese ) Love the first photo .. gorgeous!

[Katherin]

you should call this recipe Blogger's Ricotta for the "real" ricotta is made from the whey left after making mozzarella hence the name ricotta means cooked again / curdling milk with lemon or citric acid is the way paneer (Indian cheese) is made / this recipe has been making the blogger rounds for the last few years / call it paneer or curds and whey but not ricotta / buon appetito

[Stephanie]

eileen: You should join us! It's going to be a lot of fun!

Katherin: Yes whole milk ricotta isn't the same as whey ricotta, that's mentioned in the book we're working out of. It is different than paneer however.

[Amanda @ Once Upon a Recipe]

I wish I'd gotten my act together soon enough to join you for this challenge! The ricotta looks so lovely!

[Paula]

I think it is a wonderful challenge that you and your Mom are undertaking. You certainly look like you are off to a fabulous start with this home-made ricotta! Very impressive:)

[Bob]

The ricotta looks so yummy!

[Lisa @ The Gonzo Gourmet]

Love that you're making cheese at home! And yet another great use for those amazing Home Depot buckets.

[Addie]

It's awesome that your mom will be joining you for this adventure! My mom lives far away but she regularly emails me about the status of my ripening bleu cheese in the fridge :P

Your use of ricotta over hot pasta seems sooo good! I believe Deb made ricotta ravioli.

[jules]

so true...homemade is so so so much better. i was never a ricotta fan until i made my own. i used goat milk, heavy cream and buttermilk...so good i made it 3 times in one month. hey, you should try making some goat cheese next. it's pretty easy with the right cultures and equally as rewarding as the ricotta. anyway...thanks for the great post.

[erin @ yummy supper]

Stephanie, Love your cheese-making action! That photo of the home depot bucket cracked me up and the shot with ricotta and the cheese cloth was so elegant. A full experience;)
xo
E

[Jessica @ bake me away!]

It's like a jar of clouds! I made ricotta once pre-blog days, but in a less high-tech (orange bucket) way. It really is so much better! Interested to see what cheese is next.

[christine @ wannafoodie]

What a great post... and your photos are just fantastic. I'm so looking forward to this year of cheesemaking... albeit a bit daunting at this stage. Maybe we can coordinate a Calgary tasting party!?

[AL TAN]

I watched some of the blogger used yogurt instead of cream into the ricotta cheese making because in certain country like Malaysia, its very hard to find cream. The result is almost the same.