You see, ricotta is just a fancy name for what our great-grandmothers would have recognized as a kind of farmer's cheese — a category of simple, acid-set cheeses that used to be everyday fare before people began buying their dairy products instead of making them at home. Now we're more likely to buy our farmer's cheese with exotic names like paneer, queso blanco and quark. But whether they're soft or crumbly, aged or fresh, at heart all these cheeses reflect a basic technique home cooks have used for centuries to preserve an abundance of fresh milk.
What sets ricotta apart from many other types of farmer's cheeses — and what sets homemade ricotta apart from its chalky supermarket cousin — is its silken, creamy texture. Italians achieve this by making ricotta from sheep or water buffalo milk, both of which have a higher fat content than cow's milk. For those of us who don't have a handy supply of either, though, cow's milk mixed with some cream does beautifully. By far this ricotta's greatest attribute is its versatility. It goes with just about everything. I serve it stuffed into homemade spinach pasta, smeared on thin-crust pizzas with tangy tomato sauce and crumbled sausage, mixed with fresh herbs and garlic as a dip for crudités — even paired with fruit for dessert. More often than not, though, I find myself succumbing to its charms in the simplest form possible: scooped into a bowl and drizzled with a spoonful of honey, or better yet, leftover chocolate sauce. After all, the hard life of a cheesemaker deserves some reward.
Melissa Kronenthal is a Seattle freelance food photographer and writer. Check out her other work atwww.melissakronenthal.com.
Makes about 2 ½ cups
The flavor of homemade ricotta depends on the flavor of the milk and cream that go into it, so use the best you can find. I love the dairy from Fresh Breeze Organic in Lynden.
2 cups buttermilk,
2 quarts whole milk (not ultrapasteurized, preferably organic)
1 cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon salt
1. Set a colander in the sink and line it with a triple layer of cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel (not terry cloth) that you've rinsed and wrung out. Combine the milk, buttermilk, cream and salt in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and place over medium heat. Stirring frequently to prevent scorching, heat the milk to a gentle simmer. Watch it carefully; when it reaches 175 degrees, it will start to curdle. As soon as you see this, give the milk one last stir, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom, and turn off the heat. Let the pot sit there, undisturbed, for 10 minutes. The soft white curds will separate from the yellowish whey and rise to form a raft on the surface.
2. Using a wire-mesh skimmer or large slotted spoon, gently lift off the curds into the colander, leaving as much of the whey behind as possible. Go slowly so as not to break up the curds too much. When you've transferred them all, pour off and discard the whey left in the pot, and salvage any curds that are stuck to the bottom. Let the cheese drain for about half an hour; when the draining slows, gather the edges of the cloth, tie them into a bag, and hang the bag from the faucet. Continue to drain until the ricotta is as thick as you like it, up to an hour longer.
3. Pack the ricotta into a covered container and store in the refrigerator. It's at its best during the first 3 to 4 days, but it will keep for about a week.
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