Ricotta or Paneer: The easiest cheese you can make at home
Season the milk, add the acid, heat, add rennet, heat, let settle, and strain. There are subtleties of technique that can affect your results, but it's easy to make and impressive to serve fresh and hot
1LitreMilk3%, there is no point using low fat milk to make this cheese.
1tspSalt
1tspCitric AcidOr a tablespoon of lemon juice
1/4tabletRennetcrushed and dissolved in warm water
Instructions
Salt the milk, bring to 180º
Add the citric acid, or the juice of one lemon.
Reduce the heat, as you want the temperature to reduce to at least 140º before adding the rennet
When the temperature of the milk is below 140º, but above 105º add the rennet
Once the rennet has been added, stir it for 5 minutes to fully incorporate it into the milk, and then let it rest with a cover on, for 30 minutes.
Line a colander or strainer with 4 layers of cheesecloth and place over a bowl or saucepan big enough to hold the contents of the cheese mixture.
Use a soup ladle to spoon the curds and whey over the cheesecloth (if you pour, you’ll ruin the cheesecloth and the cheese).
When this is fully drained, you can serve it immediately as ricotta cheese. When fresh and warm like this, it's lovely with biscuits and jam or crusty bread and tapenade.
Paneer
Making the cheese into paneer is as simple as pressing out the excess liquid to make it into a firmer, cuttable cheese that will hold its shape in a sauce.
To do this, first wrap the cheesecloth fully around the cheese.
Then, put a small plate or other food-safe flat object over the cheesecloth and weigh it down while the excess liquid drains from the cheese.
Having your whey and eating it too!
You can use the whey to make bread, or if you prefer, add sugar and cook it down to caramel.
Notes
PLEASE NOTE; You will need cheesecloth for this recipe. You can buy this at a food store, hardware, or fabric shop (although if from a fabric shop, it will have ‘sizing’ and must be washed first).The whey can be stored for up to ten days and used in power drinks, soups, or in many recipes that call for milk, I use it to make biscuits, bread, or caramel.