Fresh Ricotta Cheese

Yes, I did. I made fresh ricotta cheese.  I have been nostalgically craving the homemade goat cheese I would make when I was much younger.  I don't have the recipe, and I have no goat, so I scoured the internet, found a recipe that seemed familiar, and used whole milk and cream from my local grocer.
I was SO excited to make this today, and it only takes minutes!  AND IT IS SOOOOO GOOD!

SOO AMAZING! 

Fresh Ricotta Cheese
(for the record, I made 1/2 of the following recipe)

Ingredients:

• 8 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Prepare a sieve lined with fine mesh cheesecloth (I used a thin hand towel from IKEA) and place it over a large bowl, set aside. 

2. Into a large stockpot add milk, cream and salt and bring to a rolling boil. Stirring constantly. 

3. When it has reached a rolling boil add lemon juice, reduce heat and stir until mixture curdles. 

adding the lemon juice

CURDS!!!

4. Pour contents of the pot into the sieve, and pick up the cheesecloth to encourage the cheese to drain.

draining the whey

5. Continue to squeeze the liquid from the cheese until you start seeing small "cheese beads" being pushed out of the bottom of your cloth. 

When you open your cloth, 

your fresh ricotta should look like this:

creamy, thick, delicious ricotta.

6. Scoop your fresh cheese into an air tight container, leaving the lid off, allowing the cheese to cool on its own before chilling, or if you want, you can serve it right away!

beautiful and fluffy

I have a feeling I am going to experiment, and boil fresh herbs and fragrant seasonings in the cream and milk to create some one-of-a-kind Ricotta's.  YUM!