Make Your Own Fresh Ricotta

Ricotta, which literally means "recooked" in Italian, is a fresh cheese that's so easy to make, there's really no reason to buy it premade in stores. It's a versatile ingredient that's used in the filling for ravioli, and can be used to make a tender, flavorful gnocchi-like dumpling called Malfatti. But perhaps my favorite way of having it is in a bowl drizzled with a little good honey and a generous sprinkle of granola for breakfast.

Ricotta was originally created as a way to reclaim additional protein from the whey leftover after making cheese, but it's even better if you make it from fresh milk. While low-fat or non-fat milk will work, it won't taste as good and you'll end up getting much less yield, which is why I recommend using whole fat milk and then adding some extra cream to increase the fat content. Ideally you want to use very fresh milk that has not been Ultra-Pasteurized (UHT). Ultra-Pasteurization kills bacteria in milk by heating it to extremely high temperatures for a short amount of time. While this extends the shelf life of milk, it ruins the flavor and changes the structure of the proteins in milk making it nearly impossible to get a good curd out of the milk.

While any acid such as lemon juice or vinegar will work as the curdling agent, I like using citric acid because it is more predictable (lemons vary in acidity) and results in a more neutral tasting ricotta. This allows you to enjoy the taste of the quality milk you're using, rather than the taste of the curdling agent.

Lastly, depending on how you plan to use this, you can drain it for a little or a long time, which will affect the water content and texture of the ricotta. The less time the ricotta spends draining, the creamier it tends to be, which makes it great for eating, but if you plan to use this in a batter or dough, it's best to drain it longer so that the extra water doesn't change the ratio of flour to water in your recipe.