Make Your Own Ricotta
With just a little careful temperature control, you can make your own ricotta cheese. This allows you to control the amount of salt added, and the texture.
Ricotta Cheese
1 quart milk
3 fluid ounces fresh lime juice
Allow milk to reach room temperature in a covered container. In a stainless steel saucepan slowly heat the milk to 180F, stirring often. Hold the heated milk at 180F for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and gently stir while adding the lime juice. Stir until curds form. Gently pour curds into a strainer lined with cheesecloth. Allow the whey/liquid to separate and drain away from the curds/solids and discard liquid. Rest for 1 hour. For firmer cheese, tie bag together and suspend in a tall, covered container in refrigerator to drain 4-8 hours. Unwrap and season with salt if desired.
