Making Ricotta Cheese

Ricotta is a super easy cheese to make.  It is used in lasagne, manicotti, stuffed shells, ravioli and lots of other pasta dishes.

You make ricotta with the leftover whey from making other cheeses.  When we make a cheddar, or jack you are using several gallons of milk.  This is a way to use again the left over and get the best bang for your buck.

Ingredients:

Whey

Stockpot
Pillow Case or clean flour sack towel
Strainer
Spoon

Directions:

After you are finished making whatever cheese you are doing and have it in the press you take the whey in your large stock pot and reheat it to the point of simmering and almost to a boil.  I stir all the time because I don't want my ricotta to settle and stick to the bottom of my pan.  When you get to almost the boiling stage you will start to see what looks sort of like cottage cheese floating in the liquid.  This is your ricotta.  Continue until you see it is not making any more cheese.   Strain the cheese in a colander lined with a clean white pillowcase or a clean flour sack towel.  Remove from fabric and place into a container.  Add some fine ground pink Himalayan salt and stir and store until you are ready to use.

Check out making Jack Cheese!