Lemon verbena ricotta cheese…..

I was raised on a farm in North Bedfordshire where my mum Solidea would make goats cheese and sell it along with unpasteurised milk (still warm) to all of the local Bedfordshire delis. Unfortunately this practise had to stop many years ago due to the shadow and change of health and safety policies etc. I was only young but can remember so clearly the beautiful and incredibly ornate cheese presses and large milk jugs and canisters stored in our family kitchen. The aroma of the cheese making process still brings back so many joyous memories. Mum had a cheese room where her cheese was left to dry and mature, delicious I know, however the cheese room was located adjacent to my bedroom. You can only imagine the smell of my bedroom during the height of summer!

So full of inspiration and with the desire to become a cheese lady, I asked my friend Sarah if she fancied making cheese with me one sunny Tuesday afternoon. So we decided upon lemon ricotta along with oregano halloumi, but today I have chosen to share with you the simplicity of homemade ricotta. I will not tire you of the initial 2 failed attempts we had (with the ricotta) due to an incorrect recipe we were following at the time. I mean how hard can this cheese making malarkey really be? Cheese making regardless of how much you read or think you know, is a science and an art in its own right. But first time cheese makers you will love this ricotta recipe as it’s easy, quick and delicious.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Lemon ricotta, Lemon ricotta with added lemon verbena leaves

Ingredients

2 pints Full fat Milk
1 pint Double Cream
1 tsp Maldon Salt
80 ml Freshly squeezed lemon juice
5 Verbena leaves (optional only, not essential)

Instructions

Pour the milk and cream into a heavy bottomed pan.
Bring to a gentle medium heat and add the salt, stir to dissolve fully. Be careful the heat isn’t too high as you don’t want to scorch the base of the pan or burn the milk.
Gently over a medium heat bring the mixture to 90C and pour in the lemon juice. Stir. Add 5 verbena leaves to the milk.
You should immediately see soft curds starting to form. Stir and leave the milk to continue to coagulate for a further 5 minutes on the heat.
Remove the pan from the heat and allow the pan to stand for 15 minutes. Please do not be tempted to stir the mixture. A little time and patience will be required, so put the kettle on or pop a cork.
Place a colander into a large clean bowl and sheet the colander with clean muslin.
Spoon all of the curds into the muslin. I then also pour the whey through so no pieces or ricotta go astray.
Allow the ricotta curds to rest and the whey to drain through for 5 minutes.
Squeeze the cheese with the muslin gently into a round. Taste and season with a little more salt if required.
Eat and enjoy with some extra virgin olive oil and rustic bread.

Notes

Carmela’s tip: Use the whey by adding it to your pizza dough or pasta dough. So much added flavour and frugal too. You can also freeze the whey.