Say Cheese

To pass the time on this gloomy Friday afternoon, I will tell you the story of how fresh ricotta came into my life.

It wasn't long ago that I was reading through Barbara Lynch's (fantastic) new cookbook, Stir, looking for something not too risky to make for dinner with a couple of the Viking's colleagues and their wives. It was there that I came across a recipe for ricotta.

I guess I had never thought about cheese-making as a realistic possibility before. Some of my free-associations about people who make their own cheese: radical, hipster, unibomber, Brooklyn, patchouli, libertarian.

Well that turns out to be really unfair, because ricotta is actually incredibly easy to make and trust me when I say that the homemade kind is way better than that Polly-O sludge that you get at the grocery store.

Traditionally, ricotta is made from the by-products of making other cheeses, but we won't be going down that path. You can make it straight from milk too. In that case, you use heat and acid to curdle the milk, separating the curds from the whey.

As it turns out, I had some experience already as an accidental cheese-maker. When I was five I mixed orange juice and milk together in a misguided attempt to recreate the creamsicle...and it curdled. I tried to drink it and cried.

Then there's the Irish car bomb. After you drop the shot of Bailey's in a pint of Guinness, if you don't drink it quickly enough the stout curdles the cream-based liqueur.

For the record, neither of these are actually approved methods of ricotta making. You can do it using buttermilk, distilled white vinegar, or lemon juice. I prefer vinegar because I think it leaves the least taste residue in the cheese, and provides a consistently high yield from the milk.

I served my first-ever batch of ricotta alongside bread and honey as an hors d'oeuvre (pictured at top), and used it again that night to top fettucine with lamb ragu. Once my guests got wind that I had made the cheese myself, they were curious to know how it's done. I'll advise you not to explain the cheese-making process to dinner guests. It's inherently gross and there's no way to sugar-coat it. I didn't think that they would buy my story about "ricotta fairies" so I deflected the question and changed the subject. They probably thought there were dead bodies involved, but oh well.

Since then, I make ricotta whenever I have a little spare time and I've have never had a problem finding ways to use it up before it goes off. Fresh ricotta will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.


Ricotta Cheese

Yields 2 cups

1/2 gallon high-quality whole milk
1/2 c distilled white vinegar
3 tsp kosher salt

1. In saucepan, combine ingredients over medium heat.

2. Heat until liquid reaches temperature of 175 - 180 degrees, stirring occasionally.

3. Remove from heat and ladle curds into colander lined with a double layer of cheesecloth. Either leave as-is to drain in colander or tie cheesecloth shut with kitchen twine.

4. Allow curds to drain for about an hour, or until ricotta reaches desired consistency.