ricotta appena fatta (in casa) / fresh homemade ricotta

| Simona

homemade ricotta draining
Ricotta money cannot buy (at least where I live)

I made this ricotta with the whey left over from making Gouda according to this recipe (using two gallons of milk). The procedure I follow to make ricotta derives from the recipe for ricotta from whey1 on this page (without any milk added). I always use the traditional basket (now made of plastic) to drain my ricotta, because I respect the tradition. The photo was taken at the beginning of the draining phase. The yield was about 10.5 oz. On this page you can see what the ricotta looks like after I unmold it.

As I wrote recently in a comment to an article on ricotta by David Tanis:

The beauty of ricotta is that it is an ingenious way of extracting every last bit of goodness from fresh milk: first, cheese is made and then the whey is processed to extract proteins and fat that escaped into it. Whey cheeses in Europe are all fascinating in that respect.

1 The word ricotta comes from the Latin recoctus, meaning cooked again. The name describes the process whereby ricotta has been traditionally made in Italy for centuries, by cooking again the whey  left over from making cheese. And not every type of whey can be used (i.e., the whey left over from making certain cheeses is not usable for making ricotta). Processing milk at home according to recipes like the one on the page referenced above will give you an acceptable substituton. (See this post for additional information on ricotta.)

BlackWhiteWednesdayFinalOriginalLogo This is my submission to week #10 edition of Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. Savoring the weekly gallery is highly recommended: it's a very special mid-week treat.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to black and white.

This post contains the gallery of photos submitted to the event.

13 thoughts on “ricotta appena fatta (in casa) / fresh homemade ricotta”

  4. I just went to that link on how to make ricotta – it seems fairly easy – in India many make their own paneer at home (even though I buy it at the store) and the process is very similar and simple.
    I have a question, though – won’t the milk boil over unless you heat it on ‘simmer’ mode (on the lowest flame)?

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  5. Ciao Laura. Anche a me, tantissimo. E’ una delle ragioni che mi ha portato a fare il formaggio a casa.
    Thanks, Paz.
    Ciao Alicia. As you can see, my curds occupy only a small portion of the basket. I am tempted to make cheese with 3 or 4 gallons of milk, but my press cannot handle that quantity of curds and I also need a bigger pot. True ricotta is food of the gods (words of an Italian poet: I should write them in full in a post) and once you taste it, you cannot forget.
    Hi Sra. I have never had problems with whey boiling over the pot when I make ricotta. I have made chenna, whose process is similar to paneer and have not had problems either. You must supervise the milk and stir often otherwise it scorches. Making chenna was actually fun and I recommend it.

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  6. I wish I had some whey on hand right now 🙂 I love ricotta, but I’ve never tried making it by myself. I really like the one they sell in the shop, but I can imagine that homemade ricotta tastes so much better! The photo makes me want to go and grab a huge spoon of this delicious cheese 🙂

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  8. Ciao Catalina. When I was in Italy, I never thought about making cheese or ricotta. You can easily find excellent, fresh ricotta in the store. Moving to California has given me an even greater appreciation for Italian ricotta. It is indeed very tempting to eat it right away. The ricotta in the photo went into the making of a special dish that I am planning to describe in an upcoming post.
    Thank you, Akheela.

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