I thought I was a genius when I first made pesto. Then I was CERTAIN I was a freaking genius after conquering an impossible marshmallow recipe. But I think I’ve outdone myself this time., cuz this time, I made CHEESE. FROM SCRATCH. And I barely had to do anything. Laziness + delicious gourmet cheese = the ultimate Leena recipe. But I’m no food genius. No, now, I know for sure: I am a food GOD. And modest to boot, bitches. So I came across this particular recipe for ricotta while flipping through my old culinary school bible, On Cooking by Sarah R. Labensky and Alan N. Hause. This book literally taught me (and continues to teach me) how to cook everything. Why this recipe rocks #1: only has two ingredients that you most likely have on hand. Milk and fresh lemon or lime juice
Why this recipe rocks #2: active cooking time is less than 10 minutes. Inactive cooking time: 1 hour (which means time when the recipe is doing it’s thing, but you can be sitting on your duff watching a Facts of Life marathon on TBS).
When I added the lime juice, I think I was expecting huge curds, but all I got were these itsy bitsy tiny curds that made me I had effed up the recipe. Thankfully, I had not.
When I poured the mixture into the strainer, I finally saw the real ricotta.
Why this recipe rocks #3: People will think you are freaking Martha Stewart for making your own cheese, but little did they know you hardly did any work. Score.
~LTG! *********************** Ricotta Cheese (an adaptation of a recipe by Chef John Harrison from the book On Cooking Yield: 4 oz of cheese 1 pt. of whole organic milk 1 1/2 oz of fresh lime or lemon juice (I think lemon juice would taste more neutral, but both work well) 1. In a covered container, let the milk come to room temperature. 2. Place milk in a stainless steel or non-reactive sauce pan, and heat to 180 F, and hold at that temp. for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. 3. Take milk off of heat and add citrus juice while stirring slowly. Stir until tiny curds start to form (usually only a minute or two). 4. Pour milk mixture into a strainer lined with rinsed cheesecloth and allow whey (or liquid) to separate. Throw away whey. 5. Allow cheese to rest for one hour in cheesecloth. For a firmer, drier ricotta, tie the cheesecloth into a bag and suspend it over a tall container overnight in the fridge. 6. Unwrappe cheese, add salt to taste if you want to, and then use or store in the fridge! ***Not quite sure how long this will last, as I used all of mine up in a delicious frittata, but I imagine around a week in a covered container.
