In the heat of the summer we often have sour milk leftovers in our kitchen. Because I am a pantry chef, I hate to waste good, nutritious food and was delighted to find this easy recipe to make Ricotta cheese from left over sour milk and a bit of lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar) and some salt to taste.
Ricotta Cheese is a classic Italian soft, white cheese that is similar to crumbly Feta, I know it from eating Ricotta and Spinach Cannelloni at the many excellent Italian restaurants in South Africa founded and run by Italian immigrants to SA who brought their incredible cooking and restaurant skills here to start a new life in the 1960s and 1970s. I owe them much – Salut!
At home I slice my home made ricotta (kept in a dish in the fridge) and put it on freshly baked ciabatta with honey, or toss it in to a breakfast omelette. A perfect protein addition to almost any meal.
Recipe
This is an anecdotal recipe so the recipe and method are sort of in one section. Its supposed to be an easy to make item, no stress, no fuss.
Take your left over sour milk – measure how much you have. Measure lemon juice or Apple Cider Vinegar and at 5 – 6 teaspoons per litre of sour milk. When you have your ratio, pour both in a saucepan and put on a stove on medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Stir it with a wooden spoon and when you see strings of curd, or clumps of curd, remove from the heat.
Now you will need some muslin (or a kitchen tea towel) to drain the curds from the whey.
Place your cloth in a colander, and place a colander in a mixing bowl so that liquid can drain from into the bowl below the colander. Pour your cooling mixture from the saucepan in to the cloth, fold the top of the cloth over the top loosely. Allow to drain for an hour or so.
Remove the colander and open the cloth. Inside you should have the fresh, crumbly yet firm Ricotta Cheese.
These are the curds that have separated from the whey, and the lemon or vinegar gives them an almost imperceptible flavour that enhances the cheesey-ness of the curds.
Delicious.
Now it just needs some salt to taste. Of course, you can add chopped herbs, garlic or honey and nuts too.
Tip the ricotta and seasoning out of the cloth in to a mould (pie dish) or ramekin and place in the fridge.
When firm, tip out of the mould on to a saucer. Slice or crumble and eat.
What to do with the Leftover Whey Liquid
Whey is prized as a no-fat and high protein food. I add it in to my breakfast smoothies instead of milk, and the slight lemon flavour is just part of the smoothie taste.
I also freeze it and use it as soup liquid, particularly good with chicken or beef soup, as the lemon cuts through the rich fattiness of the meat. I make very hearty and nutritious soups (recipes coming soon) and love to have soup as a meal, knowing it is packed full of protein, minerals and vitamins. Crumble the Ricotta over the top of your soup too, for extra protein and flavour.