Happy April Fool’s Day! Sorry that I don’t have any wacky fool-your-friends recipes to share. But, I can guarantee that you can fool your friends, family or unsuspecting spouse into thinking that this creamy, heavenly homemade ricotta cheese was bought from the store… Except for the fact that it tastes ten MILLION times better than what you scoop out of a store bought jar! Just sayin’.
The whole process of making this ricotta cheese, thanks to The Italian Dish, was so quick and easy I did it twice. Just 15 minutes, 2 quarts of whole milk, a lemon, heavy cream and salt are all you need. Also, you’ll need cheesecloth. Sur La Table and Williams-Sonoma have it, as well as my local gourmet supply store, Surfas, a.k.a. foodie heaven on earth. Seriously, you need the jaws of life to pull me out of there!
First, you use a heavy pot to boil the milk, cream and salt before adding the fresh lemon juice. Simmer and stir and get excited (you’re making homemade ricotta cheese!) for 5 minutes, until you see small curdles forming in the liquid. Pour it into the cheesecloth-lined strainer, wait about 10 minutes and you’ll have moist, fluffy fresh ricotta ready for your next recipe! I made these pesto lasagna roll ups with it, and they tasted out of this world.
For the ricotta recipe, click below. For recipes featuring ricotta, check out my favorites here:
Turkey Spinach Stuffed Shells
Berry Strata
Classic Italian Lasagna
Wishing you a very happy, cheesy weekend! Here’s hoping you don’t get fooled… too badly.
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Homemade Ricotta Cheese
Yield: Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients:
2 quarts whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
You'll also need a small amount of cheesecloth (found at Sur La Table, Williams-Sonoma, or most gourmet food supply stores)
Directions:
Line a large strainer with a layer of cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl.
Slowly bring the milk, cream and the salt to a rolling boil in a 6-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Add lemon juice. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring constantly, until mixture forms small curdles, about 5 minutes.
Pour into the lined strainer and let drain for 10 minutes. After discarding the liquid, chill the ricotta, covered. It will keep in the fridge for 2 days.
Enjoy!
Adapted from The Italian Dish
Cool! This is such a great idea. I love ricotta, and have always wanted to make my own. No excuses now! Thanks :)
I totally love ricotta and use it in everything. I have never even considered making my own (until now)! Making cheese kind of intimidates me for some reason, but this looks so good!!
I bet this tastes amazing. :) I’ve never thought of making my own ricotta cheese. My Italian husband would love this!
It looks wonderful! I use to use the excuse that it took too much time to make my own cheese.. now I guess I can’t say that :)
It looks so fresh and delicious! I love the fuss free cheese making recipes.
Wow, I had no idea it was so simple to make this at home. I think I can do this! Thanks for sharing it.
I never knew that ricotta cheese can be homemade. That’s interesting. It is very similar to quick paneer simply using milk and lemon juice.
I’ve always wanted to try this but never knew how and apparently I was too lazy to look it up LOL Thank you so much for sharing…I’m going to whip up a batch this weekend :)
Ricotta has never looked so good!!! I’ll bring over the lasagna sheets ; )
That ricotta looks delicious. I bet it is so much better than the tub you can buy at the grocery.
Impressive Georgia!
When shall I be over? ha
Have a nice weekend.
I LOVE ricotta cheese. I could eat it like ice cream. Well, that could be an exaggeration, but I do love it :o)
Michael is sure he doesn’t like ricotta. Personally, I just think he hasn’t had GOOD ricotta. This inspires me to try making it ourselves!
ooooh… I have been wanting to make my own cheese for a while but haven’t yet mustered up the courage! you make it look so easy :D
It’s really that easy?? I know what I’m doing with my day off Monday… :-)
How about part skim ricotta? Some of us are watching our calories.
It is essential that I start making my own ricotta cheese. It must taste so fresh & amazing. I have been using it all the time lately in my recipes. Thanks for the recipe Georgia! xo
mommaC – I wasn’t able to find any part-skim ricotta recipes, but if you come across one, I’d love to see it.
Hi Georgia, This homemade ricotta looks absolutely Delicious! Great Recipe :)
Have a fabulous weekend,
Aldy.
How much cream do you need?
I read a lot of recipe without cream and find it kind of confusing!
:)
Lea – The amount of cream is in the recipe.
Don’t toss out that whey ! Use it in bread recipes, pancakes, or water your garden tomatoes with it.
Your ricotta looks perfect, such a heavenly cheese :)
How wonderful…! Homemade Ricotta cheese! It looks really good :D)!
I had no idea that you could make this without some “special” ingredient! Yours looks great and I’m going to try it for sure! :)
Thank you for your amazing blog!
That sounds easy enuff! No more breaking the bank to get store bought ricotta. Now to hunt for the cheesecloth…. :)
Gorgeous! I’ve never thought to make my own ricotta but it sounds really easy, so why not?
This is so impressive to me. I’ve honestly never even thought about the possibility of making your own ricotta. So smart and delicious!
Ricotta is one of my most favroite cheeses. I love it on warm pasta, all by itself. My husband hates it, so I hardly ever get to enjoy it. I had NO idea it was so easy to make! Thanks for sharing!
Love it! I made a similar cheese recently and it was just delicious, this looks fantastic!
Thanks for stopping by Georgia– glad you did so because now I’ve discovered yours– absolutely beautiful! I’ve never made my own ricotta but have been wanting to get into cheese making, and this looks really easy. Surfas is the BEST PLACE ON EARTH! Could spend an entire day there…
So cool…the most I’ve ever done is mozzarella. I might have to give this a whirl. :)
This is absolutely brilliant! I didn’t even know that it’s possible ;) Homemade everything are the best! :)
I’m SO glad I found your blog, it’s delightful! Thanks so much for the recipe, I love fresh ricotta and will absolutely make this.
Have a lovely day.
so wonderful: I love making home made basics, like bread and cheese. Ricotta is so satisfying to make isn’t it? I like mine on toast with a small drizzle of honey.
I had no idea this was so easy…it’s always been on my list of things to try, and now I really want to! I can imagine how wonderful this homemade version is!
Hi Georgia,
Thanks for visiting my blog. You have a great blog and I love this homemade ricotta cheese recipe. I am going to give it a try.
http://spoon-and-chopsticks.blogspot.com/
It looks absolutely delicious..as your beautifull blog!!!!Kisses from Spain
This looks tasty and fun! Has anyone tried freezing it? Also, is there a way to make it lowfat?
I wouldn’t recommend freezing it or using anything other than whole milk and heavy cream.