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stacita
I had a life-changing experience this weekend. I made fresh ricotta. It's life changing because it's so easy and so delicious, which is a powerful combination.
Amanda made the fresh ricotta awhile back, and I swore I would try it. It's taken me over a year, but it has been done!
I was motivated when I found a simple recipe for it in Mario Batali's (my kitchen god) Italian Grill, which you should probably purchase immediately.
The process is very simple. I thought I would need more exact measurements and explanation, but after doing it, I think you will agree that within certain parameters, you really can't mess it up:
- Bring whole milk + milk fat (like half and half or heavy cream), and a pinch of salt to a "boil" (aka, just before the milk froth rises and spills out of the pan all over your stove) over medium heat. While heating, stir occasionally to make sure the milk doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan.
- Remove from heat.
- Add lemon juice and stir until the curds separate. (For reference, I ended up using 2 lemons for 1/2 gallon of milk. I kept added the lemon juice until the curds really started to form.)
- Slowly pour the entire mixture over a strainer fitted with 2 layers of cheesecloth. I found it easiest to pour out the liquid (whey) first to make the draining of the ricotta quicker.
- Let drain for 5-30 minutes, or overnight if you want to make ricotta gnocchi.
Here's another source if you want to read about it in more detail:
http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/217-Ricotta.html
I then proceeded to make Mario's Eggplant Involtini and Lidia's Ricotta Fritta, neither of which I would recommend if you ever want to move from the table again.
For our Friday night adventure, Nate and I will attempt both of these dishes. He has an eggplant that he has been dying to cook. He thought about eggplant gyros, but I convinced him to try this!
I'm excited to hear how it turns out! Making ricotta is surprisingly easy. I love adding lemon instead of vinegar as the ricotta has a slightly sweet, lemony, fresh taste.
With regards to the eggplant, don't forget to slice the eggplant thinly, fry. it., and bake well. In the cookbook version of the recipe, Mario advises that it's better to overcook it by 5 minutes than undercook it by 1, and that's the truth.
Although I have to tell you that I recently made a variation of this recipe from Mario's Italian Grill cookbook and it was even more delicious. Instead of frying and baking the eggplant, you just grill it. And instead of stuffing it with ricotta, you stuff it with a blend of goat cheese and pesto. It might have been insane. I might have gone insane.
The ricotta was easy and it tasted so good! Next time, I will definitely grill the eggplant. I don't even want to think about how much olive oil I ate! I took some liberties with the recipe since we (or more so nate) had trouble slicing the eggplant. So one side was layered and the other had the rolls. I also included a 6 cheese blend on top just so the folks here would eat it, but I don't think Mario would think that was an insult (more cheese the better). We ate it over some veggie fettuccine with some french bread. I'm definitely making that ricotta again! Everyone loved the dish!
So glad it went well. Isn't it scarily easy? After I made it that first time, I never bought another container of ricotta again. I just whip up whatever I need for what I'm making, often just a cup or two of milk and some cream. It's ready in 15 minutes start to finish (including draining). I love the simplicity of it!