© 2010 Paul Forte
My father Aquilino Forte (Brighton) would make this regularly
Submitted by Paul Forte
Ricotta
This is not real Ricotta, which is made by re-cooking the whey after cheese is made, but more of a curd cheese or, to give it its real Italian name, 'cacioricotta'.
I remember my father making this on many occasions, and now my sister Rosie has followed in his footsteps.
As a treat, Dad would give us a cup of warm junket at the intermediate stage and then would let us help strain the curds later. He would always use the best milk available, gold top, in those days, so if you can get Jersey or Guernsey milk, so much the better. He would also boil the milk and then cool it, but this is not necessary with modern milk. All rennet is of vegetable origin these days and is readily available in the big supermarkets. If you do not have ricotta baskets, you can leave it to dry out in the sieve.
Ingredients
6 pints full fat milk
3 dessert spoons rennet
1 dessert spoon salt
Method
Warm the milk in a large saucepan to about 37 °C or body temperature.
Stir in the rennet, but not for too long or it will begin to separate. Cover and leave in a warm place for at least three hours for the junket to set. Dad would wrap the pan in a blanket.
Sprinkle on the salt, and cut the curds into cubes with a knife. Leave to rest for 10 mins, then carefully ladle into ricotta baskets. You can use the ricotta baskets to scoop up the first of the curds, then ladle the rest in. Let the whey drain out of the ricotta, then combine the ricotta into fewer baskets as the levels will have dropped.
Place the baskets on a plate and refrigerate. More of the whey will strain out and then it can be turned out on to a plate.
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