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Homemade ricotta is one of the easiest cheeses to make and takes about 20 minutes. “Ricotta” means recooked, which comes from the fact that whey from prior cheese making is reheated to coagulate additional proteins and fat in the form of ricotta cheese. In most recipes, including this one, we use whole milk and heavy cream rather than whey. It’s important to get the freshest whole milk and cream that you can find, preferably from local grass-fed cows. For those of you who live in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, I get the milk and cream from Maple View Farm Ice Cream store between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough. The yield on your ricotta is a great way to test the richness (i.e., fat content) of your milk and cream. For us, this recipe makes about 1.7 to 1.9 pounds per gallon of whole milk (I even got 2.2 pounds once!). We typically use it as a ripieno di ricotta (ricotta filling) for stuffed pastas or a pizza topping. This is so easy and good that I no longer buy ricotta.
16 cups (one gallon) of fresh WHOLE milk, preferably from local grass-fed cows
2 cups (1 pint) fresh heavy cream, preferably from local grass-fed cows (4 cups if making a ricotta spread)
1 ½ tsp fine sea salt or kosher salt flakes
2/3 cup lemon juice (measure precisely; store pre-squeezed is fine and much easier)
1. Heat milk and cream to 195F, stirring often and making sure not to go over 195F. Make sure you trust your thermometer. Once the milk gets a little warm (very early in the process), add the salt. Keeping the lid on will help get the temperature to 195F faster.
2. Remove pot from heat.
3. Add lemon juice, stir 4-5 times around. Be sure to measure the 2/3 cup precisely, otherwise it could affect your yield.
4. Put top on pot and let sit completely undisturbed for 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, line a colander cheese cloth and place the colander over a large bowl or pan that can catch excess water. You may need to elevate the colander some to avoid having the bottom of the ricotta sit in the water in the pan. If you use paper towel, it will break up and get into the ricotta.
6. Scoop out the ricotta curds, drip-drain them, and place on the cheese cloth. Don’t break them up.
7. Fold over the ends of the cheese cloth to cover and let drain for two hours (one hour if making a ricotta spread). For pizzas, it’s ok to drain for three hours. Also, this recipe is enough for four white pizzas.
8. Place the ricotta into a plastic container, cover top surface of ricotta with plastic wrap, put the plastic top on, and keep in the refrigerator. It should keep for 4-5 days if the seal is airtight.