Ciao a tutti!

Happy Spring! Happy Easter, or as the Italians say Buona Pasqua! Are you looking for something interesting to make this spring? We're crazy about fresh ricotta and its myriad of uses and we hope you will be too after reading this newsletter!!

In Italian, ricotta literally means “recooked” and it is not a cheese but a byproduct of making cheese. In Italy, it's creamy white with a luscious flavor. Fresh ricotta is delicious enough to be used as dessert. Yet what we get in the US is often sour, dry and filled with stabilizers and gumming agents. The only way to get close to what you find fresh in Italy is to make it yourself at home. Below is a recipe on how to make it and some ideas of how to use fresh ricotta.

Also, check out this link to read what Serious Eats has to say about making ricotta. It so beautifully describes what ricotta is, where it comes from and how to make it. 

A big Grazie Mille to you all for checking in each month reading our newsletter, keeping in touch and having us be a part of your inbox and journey! Have a wonderful Easter and spring (if it ever will truly arrive!!!)

Buon appetito!

Gina and Mary

Fresh Ricotta - How to Make it

Ricotta is made by reheating the leftover whey after making cheese.

The protein in milk, casein, is what coagulates during the cheese-making process. The remaining protein in the whey is then collected by reheating the whey with a small amount of added acidity. The soft curds that develop are then strained and this is fresh ricotta! Those Italians never let anything go to waste, using every bit!

Technically, here we aren’t making ricotta but actually a fresh cheese, sometimes called “primo sale”. While expensive to make, it’s so far above any store-bought ricotta, filled with stabilizers and gelling agents, that it’s worth the expense.

The most important ingredient is the milk and cream. They must NOT be ultra-pasteurized. Look for low temperature pasteurized and non-homogenized at any good grocery store that carries local healthy products. 

The ingredients & instructions:

2 quarts whole milk

1 quart cream

3 tbsp + 3 teas white vinegar

1 teas salt

     Heat the milk and cream together with the salt to a temperature of 175-185. Add the white vinegar and stir until clots form in the cream, just a few seconds. Take the pot off the heat and let it sit for 20 minutes. Line a deep pot with cheesecloth, hanging the cheesecloth over the edge of the pot. 

      With a wire mesh strainer or spider, gently pull the curds off the whey and place into the cheesecloth. Place a wooden spoon on the pot, take up the edges of the cheesecloth and tie them around the wooden spoon. Allow it to drain, put it into a container and refrigerate. It will keep 4 days in the fridge.

Ricotta Recipes

Here are some of our favorite recipes for ricotta:

Bruschetta with Ricotta

Lightly toast bread and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Generously spread the ricotta on the warm bread, sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and additional olive oil. 

Fresh Ricotta on Salad

Make a spring salad with greens, blanched peas, mint leaves, fennel shavings and asparagus tips. Toss the salad with a light lemon vinaigrette and serve with a dollop of ricotta on top.

     Vinaigrette: 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 teas sea salt, dash white pepper, fresh thyme sprig, ½-1 cup extra virgin olive oil.

Ricotta Mousse

This is such a simple dessert but a crowd favorite. It can be served with fresh fruit or used as a topping for lemon cake.

2 cups fresh, whole milk ricotta

1 cup whipping cream

3 tbsp sugar

Zest of one organic lemon or orange, washed

Whip the cream to stiff peaks. Whip the ricotta with the sugar and lemon zest until fluffy. Fold the two together. Serve ½ cup topped with fresh berries or peaches. 

Ricotta cheesecake    

This recipe has no cream cheese or mascarpone, it’s a very simple batter and the most authentic recipe I’ve found.

2 lbs ricotta, whole milk

6 eggs

1 cup sugar

Zest of one large organic lemon, or two small

½ teas vanilla extract

Whole milk ricotta is the only thing you should use. Make your own but if you must buy it, be sure to read the ingredients and avoid anything with additives like locust bean gum or carrageenan. Trader Joe’s is one of the only ones I’ve found that’s just milk, cream, salt and vinegar. Put it in a strainer and allow it to drain overnight.

Prepare your 8” spring form pan by buttering the bottom and sides. Dust with cookie crumbs, like ground graham crackers. Preheat oven to 400.

Beat the ricotta with the sugar and eggs until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes; add the lemon zest and vanilla and beat until well incorporated. Pour the batter into the springform pan, place it on a baking sheet and bake on a rack in the lower-middle of the oven.

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 375 and continue to bake another 40-45 minutes. The cake will have a very slight jiggle in the middle and be a nice golden brown. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool, in the pan, on a rack for at least two hours. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To serve, remove the cake from the pan. Sprinkle it with powered sugar and lemon zest or top with lemon whipped cream (whipped cream, sugar, lemon zest).

*The ricotta has to be fresh, whole milk and yummy, because there is no covering up processed ricotta!