Sicilian Homemade Ricotta Cheese Recipe

Here are some tips I found out: 1. A nonreactive saucepan refers to using any type of pot except aluminum and copper which would react with the acids in the milk; a heavy-bottomed pot is prefered to help prevent burning of the curds. 2. After the ricotta is made it can be stored up to 5-7 days, but may NOT be frozen; if it smells rancid then throw it out. 3. When you drain the ricotta in the cheesecloth, the longer you drain it the drier it will be, and the less you drain it the creamier it will be. 4. If you don't have a thermometer, then keep an eye on the cooking mixture until it separates into curds and whey (the milk has reached it's boiling point/scalding); remove from heat and either let the mixture cool/settle a bit, or scoop out the curds with a slotted spoon. UPDATE: The curds and whey separated nicely. I let the cheese cool down first, then I ladled the whey into a large bowl, and then I used a small colander to scoop out the curds into a clean dish cloth (I didn't have the cheese cloth on hand). Now it's hanging over the sink to drain and then I will refrigerate it over night. I tasted the ricotta and it tastes fresher than when you buy it at the store. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing a classic, Orcashottie!

A VERY nice and creamy result. I left the heavy cream out (since others mentioned it was OK and it wasn't readily available in my fridge) and used 2% milk. Wasn't real sure what I was looking for to know things were moving along. I did bring it up to 190 and let it sit, and there WERE some curds that formed, but overall it still looked like a pot of milk. Reading a previous commentor's suggestion I reheated the pot again at medium low and let the mixture go until I saw separation of the whey and curds. Worked perfect. I didn't bother with 4 pieces of cheesecloth - just used one. I also did only half a batch my first time out. Made just shy of 2 cups worth. Will definitely do this again :)

I have made great Riccota cheese using just the whole milk. After heating one gallon of the milk very slowly to around 170 - 180 degrees, I then stirred 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar into it. It immediately began separating and I let it sit for 30 minutes to finish separating. Then I placed a cheesecloth-lined colander inside of a large mixing bowl and gently poured the hot milk mixture into the colandar. At this point remove the bowl of whey for use in cooking, baking, etc. After you remove the bowl of whey, gently rinse the vinegar out of the ricotta cheese with a gentle flow from your kitchen tap water. Some people don't rinse at all because they like the kick which vinegar gives to this cheese. Others only rinse a little bit while others rinse it very thoroughly. It's your choice. If you rinse too much and decide you liked it better before you rinsed it, add a few tablespoons of vinegar back into it. When you are finished rinsing it, place the ricotta cheese in a mixing bowl, add salt (to taste) and then you can add anywhere from 1/2 to 1 cup of milk, cream or even buttermilk if you want a more tangy flavor. Use the whey for cooking corned beef and cabbage or a ham/cabbage/potato soup or a New England Boiled Dinner. Ham with noodles is also very good cooked in this broth. The slightly vinegary whey eliminates the need to add sauerkraut and it's really delicious.

Fantastic. I will never buy ricotta again. It is so easy and taste is very fresh. I put it on top of penne with marinara, add sugar substitute and top with fresh berries and have even added high quality cocoa to make chocolate ricotta as a dessert. I love it while it is warm! I barely drain mine in the cheesecloth as it results in a more moist, creamy ricotta. I have made homemade ravioli for my southern friends and they said they were to die for! You must try this.

i had a bit less than a half gallon of milk left over, and about a cup of buttermilk. made the recipe anyway, and added a tablespoon of white wine vinegar (to make up for the lack of acid from the buttermilk). i didn't have cheesecloth or flour sack cloth (this was a spur of the moment decision to find a way to use the milk and buttermilk, which were nearing their life-end), so i used a colander lined with paper towels, which worked perfectly! i also stopped heating it at 180 (it continued to 183), because the curds were already forming. it turned out beautifully. tasted great. ate it on kalamata/rosemary bread, with a tiny bit of chopped lemon basii and a sprinkling of pepper. also tried it on whole grain bread with a drizzle of olive oil. both utterly delicious! to the person who used powdered buttermilk and got no curds, i think it's the acid in the buttermilk that's important. if at any time, insufficient curds form, i would bet that the addition of of acid would solve the problem. add lemon juice, white wine or apple cider vinegar, a tablespoon at a time, and stir a bit to spread it, until you see curds start to form, then stop and let it sit.

OK so I really didn't follow he recipe very well. But it still turned out great! I made a half batch with 8 cups whole milk and 1 cup cream. Instead of buttermilk, I used the juice of two Meyer lemons and one orange plus 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar. (Basically, just keep adding acid until it curdles.) And I used 2 teaspoons total of kosher salt. I got about 11/2 cups of delicious ricotta and 71/2 cups of tangy whey. Tip 1: If you don't have cheesecloth, use a floursack towel to line your colander. Tip 2: You can freeze the whey (protein!) in Mason jars, leaving ample headroom, and use it in pancake batter and smoothies instead of milk.

This is a fairly simple recipe to follow. I used goat's milk/cream. Instead of using store-bought buttermilk though, I tried to give the cheese the signature flavour of citrus like the Sicilian tradition. I used lemon juice to make goat's buttermilk. The benefits of making cheese at home may seem moot if you only look at the final results in an economical way. The whey is so useful in baking and smoothies that is a definite plus. Being able to control the salt is priceless. Also, the taste of authentic cheese and not industrial plastic, is more than enough to keep you making your own cheese. Let this age in the cheesecloth and mix in some other flavours to make things more interesting. This is awesome smoked too! Thank you and your nonna for this recipe.

I've been making this recipe for years. What I've learned: 1) you MUST make sure none of your dairy is "ultra pasteurized". Ultra pasteurizing kill off enzymes important to the curdling process, and your cheese will never set. 2) I find it annoying to deal with the separate bundles, so I drain it all in one lined colander/sieve. This takes a while, but it's less fussing. I do stir the curds in the sieve occasionally to keep it draining. When it works properly, this cheese is NOTHING like what you get in the supermarket. It is dense, creamy, oh-so-rich, and amazing!! It is divine on toast, or with some fruit or chopped up raw veggies. You can also save the whey and use it for breads, soups, or as a beverage (it's a great replacement for water in protein shakes or smoothies).

I love this recipe. My Grandpa made cheese and none of the cousins have his recipe. I make this with lactose free milk, and leave out the heavy cream if it 's just for me, because I have a sensitivity to lactose. If it's for a holiday a leave in the heavy cream and have had no problems eating cheese, raviolis or cannolis to my heart's content!

This is so much better than store bought and WAY better than the milk and vinegar recipes that I see all the time! The cheese itself is very delicious, not bland. And there is zero hint of vinegar taste, even in the whey itself, which I used in place of buttermilk (since the whey is cultured, or “sweet” rather than “acid”) in the Classic Bran Muffins recipe.

very good! i added 1/4 cup of lemon juice to promote curdling better, omitted the buttermilk, and used 2% milk. i tried this version without the lemon first and it just didn't curdle as much as it does when the lemon is added (for me at least!). can't wait to have this with the french bread i am baking :)

I've made this several times. I don't always use those exact ingredients and it still comes out delicious and it's easy!

I can’t wait to try more recipes like this.

Fantastic! I’ll never buy commercial ricotta again.

Absolutely delicious, never buying store bought again.

This ricotta is by far the most amazing thing I've ever eaten. I'll never buy commercial ricotta again.

Did not set up at all. I live in the Caribbean, and fresh buttermilk is not available. Used Bob Red Mill powdered buttermilk and reconstituted according to the package directions. Did everything else exactly as written and not a single curd. Will follow a recipe like the one on Taste of Home next time. An expensive mistake.

No changes will definitely make again!

I followed directions and created a very delicious, creamy ricotta cheese. Not grainy like store bought. I'll use this recipe again and again.

Made half a recipe. Delicious. I will never buy store ricotta again.