Homemade Ricotta Cheese

I have learned that this is not an official ricotta because of the way it is prepared, but it is similar and tastes incredible.  It was so easy, that I can't wait to make it again, with a slight adjustment (see below)

Ingredients (for one large cup of ricotta):
3 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (**or 1 1/2 tbs lemon juice + 1 1/2 tbs white vinegar, see note)

Directions:

1. Pour the milk, cream and salt into a 3-quart nonreactive saucepan, and attach a candy or deep-fry thermometer. 
2. Heat the milk to 190°F, stirring it occasionally to keep it from scorching on the bottom. 
3. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, then stir it once or twice, gently and slowly. 
4. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.  While you wait, line a colander with a few layers of cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl (to catch the whey). I did not have cheesecloth, so I lined the colander with a coffee filter. 
5. Pour the curds and whey into the colander and let the curds strain for at least an hour. I let mine strain for about 3 hours. (It will firm as it cools, so do not judge its final texture by what you have in your cheesecloth.)  You can discard the whey, or use it for something else.
6. Place ricotta in an airtight container, and refrigerate until ready to use.

**Note: Using pure lemon juice as my only acid did impart a fresh hint of lemony flavor.  I did some research and found that cutting back some of the lemon and replacing it with vinegar will give you a more neutral flavor. I think I'll try that one next time, then report back! The lemon tasted delicious in the ricotta, but you might not always want that flavor, ya know?

I put some ricotta on a cracker with freshly cracked black pepper and a dollop of olive oil.  I also just ate it by itself with a spoon :)  In addition, you can spread it onto a crostini and drizzle on a bit of honey.  OR if you are really cool, make some cannoli crepes. Dude, the possibilities are endless.

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Cannoli Crepes

Happy Valentine's Day! Dave and I have been eating like royalty tonight. Dinner was perfectly cooked filet mignon (thanks to Dave!), with steamed broccoli and seasoned mini potatoes. Delicious!

Now we are in the process of preparing dessert...Cannoli Crepes. Now, I can't really post the recipe yet, since the crepe batter is chilling, and I don't want to put it up on the blog 'til we know it's good. But I made the cannoli filling, and it is simple and amazing!

Cannoli Cream

3c very dry ricotta

3/4c granulated sugar (I might have used a bit less...just add it to taste)

2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Drain the ricotta until very dry. This could be done overnight in a colander, but I wrapped my ricotta in a double layer of paper towels, and changed it every time I saw it was saturated (maybe 5 or 6 times?) This was easy to do while Dave and I prepared dinner.

2. Mix with sugar and vanilla in a food processor until smooth.

3. Chill until ready to use.

That's it! I know some people like lemon/candied citron in their cannoli, but I prefer it as-is.

I'll be back in a bit to post the crepe recipe, and hopefully a picture or 2!

(About 3 hrs later...)

I'm back! They were awesome, and I added a picture to the top of this post! Now that we ate them, I can share the crepe recipe.

Sweet Crepes

2 large eggs

3/4c milk

1/2c water

1c flour

3 tbs melted butter

butter, for coating the pan

2 1/2 tbs sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbs of your favorite liquor (optional, and I left this out)

Directions:

1. In a blender or food processor, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds

2. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.

3. Heat a small non-stick pan over medium high. Add a small amount of butter, just to coat. Pour about 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook another 10 seconds and remove.

4. Lay them out flat so they can cool, and continue until all batter is gone. After they have coold you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. When using frozen crepes, thaw on a rack before gently peeling apart.

To serve, I put some of the cannoli cream from top to bottom along the center of a crepe, added mini chocolate chips, and rolled up. We served these with strawberries. If you are wondering..."Where are the mini chips in the picture above?"...I decided that it was too hard to see them, so I drizzled some chocolate sauce on top instead, just for the picture.

Enjoy!

Crepe Recipe from Alton Brown. I made up the cannoli cream recipe after looking at many online- they were all quite similar.

Mom's Manicotti

A classic Sills dish! I would call it a Christmas Eve tradition- having manicotti alongside ham. Melissa helped prepare Mom's recipe, and it turned out great!

For the pasta...

Ingredients:

1c flour

1c water

3 eggs

2 tbs margarine, melted

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients and mix by hand until smooth.

2. In a crepe pan or small nonstick frying pan over medium heat, ladle in 1/4c of the batter. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

3. Cook until the top looks dry (approx. 30 seconds), then flip and cook an additional 10 seconds.

For the filling and assembly...

Ingredients:

3lb ricotta

1lb grated mozzarella

2 eggs

1tbs (or more to taste) dried parsley

pinch sugar

2 jars tomato sauce, or the equivalent amount in homemade sauce

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients.

2. Working 1 at a time, place about 1 tbs ricotta mixture into center of each shell.

3. Roll pasta over filling and fold short ends under. Place in a rimmed baking pan that has been prepared with a thin layer of tomato sauce. Keep the shells tightly packed so that they do not open up during baking.

4. Cover completely with tomato sauce, and top with shredded mozzarella.

5. Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 min.

6. Let sit for a bit before serving.


Ricotta mixture.

Ricotta in shell

Melissa preparing manicotti

Sitting in pan (sorry I don't have any pictures beyond this step!)

Baked Spinach Crepes

I've noticed that so far, most of the recipes we have posted are not healthy...and this one is no exception! I know- it says "spinach"- but with the cream and cheese I'm sure it isn't something to eat often. It is a little time consuming, but completely worth it- it is delicious!

To make Crepes...
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 1/2 c milk
1 c flour
1 tbs cooking oil
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Beat eggs, and combine with other ingredients
2. Heat a lightly greased 6 inch skillet, then remove from heat. Spoon in 2 tbs batter, lift and tilt skillet to spread batter. Return to heat, and brown on one side only.
3. Invert over paper towels, remove crepe.
4. Repeat with remaining batter, greasing skillet occasionally
Makes 18 Crepes

for Baked Spinach Crepes...
Ingredients:
12 6 inch crepes (following recipe above)
2 beaten eggs
2 cups ricotta cheese (15 oz)
1 1/2 c shredded swiss cheese (6 oz)
1 10oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
1 1/2 c soft bread crumbs (from 3 slices bread)
1 c grated Parmesan cheese (separated into 1/2 c and 1/2 c)
1/4 tsp black pepper
Dash of garlic powder
1/2 c butter or margarine
1 c whipping cream

Directions:
1. Prepare crepes. In a bowl, combine eggs, ricotta, Swiss cheese, drained spinach, bread crumbs, 1/2 c Parmesan cheese, pepper, and garlic powder. Mix well.
2. Spoon about 1/3 cup filling into center of each crepe; roll up.
3. Cut each rolled crepe crosswise into thirds. Place the pieces, cut side up, in a 2 quart baking dish (placing pieces close together will help them remain upright).
4. In a small saucepan melt butter; stir in cream and the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens slightly. Pour sauce over crepes.
5. Bake in a 400F oven for 18-20 min or until heated through.

Makes 36 appetizers, or 6 main-dish servings.

Ricotta Gnocchi

We made this about a week and a half ago, and served it with mom's meat sauce. Ours were not as uniform as in the pic, but they were tasty!

Gnocchi dough:

2 cups ricotta

2 eggs

1 cup shredded parmesan

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp white pepper (we used black pepper)

1/4 tsp nutmeg (we omitted this)

2 cups flour

Mix all ingredients except flour together. Than gradually add the flour. You may need less depending on how big your eggs are. You want a soft, not too sticky, dough.


The dough is easier to work with if its a little chilled, so take about a 1/3 of the dough out and place the rest in the fridge until needed.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a 1/2 inch thick rope. Then cut the rope into 1/2 long pieces. Then roll each piece on the back of a fork to give it the ridges. That is just to help it hold the sauce, so don't worry about perfection.

Then line them all up on a pan, keeping them separate. Then place a piece of wax paper over top and begin another layer of gnocchi. Repeat until all of the dough is used.

Add gnocchi to boiling water. Once they float, they are done! (Happens quickly.)
Toss with the sauce and serve immediately.

(recipe and photos from Make it and Love it)