Riccotta be kidding me?

On my last post I talked about how to make mozzarella cheese, and when doing so to save the whey left over from making it. Today I want to cover how to use that whey to make ricotta. If you don’t know what ricotta is, it is a soft cheese that is predominantly used in making lasagna especially in commercialized operations.  Since ricotta is a byproduct of making mozzarella it means that it is a cheap efficient way to complete your meal without breaking your budget.

After making your mozzarella you let your whey sit in the same pot you made your cheese, overnight for about 12 to 24 hours so that it can develop its needed acidity. The next day it will probably be bubbling a little bit. It somewhat smells like a sourdough starter or beer bread dough at this point.

 FERMENTED WHEY

Warm your whey over a good fire, while stirring so that it doesn’t stick and burn, until it is near boiling (220 degrees Fahrenheit.) Don’t let it boil over. It will be sticking to your spoon at this point too.

RICOTTA IN THE MAKING

Remove your cooked whey from the heat and allow it to sit undisturbed until it is comfortable to touch. This will take a few hours.  Whatever you do, DO NOT stir up your curds. The curds need to be scooped out with a slotted spoon or strainer and placed into a fine mesh cloth to drain.  A tea towel or any solid cotton material will work fine as long as you boil it prior to using so you don’t get any bacteria or off flavors into your cheese. Let your curds drain for a few hours or you can let it drain in the refrigerator overnight. After it is sufficiently drained you can put your cheese into whatever container you like and use it within a week of making. If you do not plan to use it within a week ricotta does freeze very well.  And the leftover liquid is great to give livestock.

We give it to our pig and she goes nuts. Nothing on the homestead has to go to waste and ricotta is a great lesson to that point. I challenge you to use something you would normally throw out this week. Take those veggie scraps and make stock or throw that parmesan rind into some soup. You could even save bones that you cut out of your steak to make delicious brown gravy or take those bread heals and make bread crumbs.  There are endless possibilities to what you can do in your own kitchen to be more ecologically efficient