R2R: Fresh Ricotta Cheese

February's Recipes to Rival challenge was to make homemade Ricotta Cheese. At first I was a little surprised. You can make ricotta at home? Really? I've always bought the 15 oz containers from the grocery store for who knows how much money. Still...I've always been interested in making homemade cheeses and this looked like a fairly simple one to start with. Our host this month was Lauren of I'll Eat You.

This recipe was not terribly complicated. It just requires a bit of waiting as the liquid reached the proper temperature. Other than stirring occasionally, there's really not a whole lot to do. That's my kind of recipe! I still managed to lose a couple of curds when they stuck to the bottom but over all, it turned out well.

I ended up with about 5-6 cups of ricotta after draining the curds. I lost a few tablespoons worth because I didn't have a cheesecloth so I subbed a thin sheet. It worked briefly but it wasn't quite thin enough to drain all of the whey. I used a collander with small slots to finish draining. The drained ricotta was tasty though I did think it could use a pinch or two of salt.

Because this is a savory group, we were supposed to use the ricotta in a savory dish (though our host said a sweet was okay too!). I made lots of things with the ricotta since I had so much and it was just me. My favorite was a simple pizza (with homemade dough from the October Daring Bakers challenge) with ricotta as the 'sauce', topped with zucchini and potato sauteed in butter, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella. Delicious!

I'll be posting the rest of the recipes I made with the ricotta (including an Orange Ricotta Poundcake from Giada de Laurentiis) soon. I found myself thinking of different uses for the ricotta as I got down to the last bits. It is excellent in scrambled eggs and fried rice by the way!

For more fresh homemade ricotta and all its uses, check out the Recipes to Rival Blog Roll! Thanks to our host Lauren for the unique and fun challenge! I'll definitely be making this again!

In other news, today marks my 1 year Blogiversary! On March 1, 2008, I posted my first food related post (Peabody's Snickerdoodle Muffins) and while it wasn't the greatest picture or post, my love of baking/cooking just grew from there! There may be a surprise later this month to celebrate so check back soon! Thanks to everyone who visited and commented! I've enjoyed everything so far and look forward to more foodie goodness and friends in the future!

Fresh Ricotta

1 gallon milk (you can use 1 percent on up, remember that the more fat in the milk, the more cheese it will yield.) (I used 2%)

1 quart buttermilk

-cheesecloth (a good, tightly woven one, not the kind you buy at the supermarket)- If you don't have one of these, you can get by with a slotted spoon, but you may lose some of the cheese.

-a thermometer (mine is for oil and candy)

Place buttermilk and milk in a pot, heat on med-low heat until it reaches 185 degrees.

It will begin to separate into curds and whey. Be sure to stir occasionally to make sure no curds stick to the bottom and burn. You will see that as the temperature approaches 185, the whey becomes clearer as the curds coagulate more.

Pour the curds into a cheesecloth lined collander. Tie the ends of the cheesecloth together and hang for 10-15 minutes. Remove from cheesecloth and place in an airtight container.

You can find the official Recipes to Rival post here.