Ingredients:

• 2L of Whole Milk (anything below 3.25% doesn’t have enough fat. There’s no room for calorie counting here – you’re making cheese, remember?! Don’t you dare skimp on the good stuff!)
• Handful of Basil (up to interpretation & personal preference, but I use a spring with 4-5 large leaves)
• Juice squeezed of 1 Lemon
• 1/4 cup White Vinegar (note: you can use white wine vinegar as a substitute, but I found it tasted and separated better with regular white vinegar)
• Salt, to taste
• Optional: 1/4 cup Whipping Cream

Tools:

• Large pot (big enough to fit the 1L of milk)
• Slotted spoon (the narrower the slots, the better)
• Mesh strainer (the smaller the holes in the strainer, the better, especially since this recipe is without a cheesecloth)
• Large bowl that you can sit the mesh strainer on top of (you’ll be straining the cheese through the strainer, into this bowl)

Time:

• 1 hour+ (note: most of the time is waiting for the milk to warm up or waiting for the ricotta to cool, so you just have to keep an eye on it; active time is <10 minutes)

Step 1: Heating to get a skim

• Add the full carton of whole milk and a handful of basil to a pot
• Stir in a pinch of salt
• Slowly heat (medium / low) until a skim produces on the top
  • What the heck is a skim?! You know when you make hot chocolate and sometimes end up with a sheet layer of hot milk on the top? It’s that. Too long since you last made hot chocolate? The skim will basically look like a gloopy film of milk (yum, right?!). No worries, you’ll be scraping that off in Step 2.
  • Note: If you heat it too quickly, you may not get the right consistency and you may burn milk to the bottom of your pot
    • Avoid stirring too much, as it will will cool the mixture and increase your cooking time
    • The time it takes to get to a skim is hugely variable and mostly depends on your stove and pot. Note that it could be anywhere from 10-20+ minutes, so be patient.

Step 2: Heating to an almost boil

• Scrape the skim off with a spoon and chuck it aside (into your sink – whatever works)
• Continue to heat until you see tiny bubbles forming around the edge (you want to bring it almost to a boil, but don’t want it to boil)
• Turn off the heat and remove the basil (some additional skim may come with it – that’s fine)

Step 3: Adding acid

• Quickly pour in the lemon juice & the vinegar
• Stir gently and allow to stand one minute – you should see the milk separate into cloudy formations
  • If this doesn’t happen, try adding more vinegar & lemon juice (adding too much may make it taste sour, so be gentle!)
  • Still no go? You probably didn’t have the milk hot enough. Try again or hope that you get invited to a dinner party serving homemade ricotta.

Step 4: Strain & Let Sit

• Place your wire mesh strainer over a large bowl
• Use a slotted spoon to carefully transfer the ricotta mixture to the mesh strainer; liquid will strain into the bowl below
• Once all of the cheese curds have all been transferred to the strainer, let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes
• Put the mesh strainer (including the bowl below) into the fridge to cool and to continue straining

Step 5: Add Salt

• Retrieve from fridge once cooled (~30+ minutes)
• Move the ricotta (i.e. the white cheese in the mesh strainer) into a clean bowl
• Add plenty of salt, to taste
• Optional: If you want your ricotta to be extra creamy, add the whipping cream now (add it in parts, until you get the consistency you want)
• You can dispose of the whey or use it as you wish (whey = the liquid in the bowl that was holding the mesh strainer)

Step 6: Eat!

• Eat your cheese!
  • Put it on top of pasta with a basil leaf
  • Use the ricotta as a crostini spread
  • Add it to fresh or grilled fruit and honey for a snack
  • Add on top on pancakes
  • Incorporate into a salad