Homemade Ricotta

Homemade Ricotta

Directions

See the Ghiban Cheese Recipe to make the cheese.
Posted Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Our dear friend Mary Ann, from Calabria in Italy, was reminded by her sister how their mother used to make ricotta from the whey (the liquid that drains off the ghiban cheese) To see the recipe for ghiban cheese, refer to November 29, 2011 post.
You add a tablespoon of white vinegar and heat the whey up to a temperature of 190 degrees F.  We tried it last night, once the liquid has heated we stirred it a bit and it started to thicken. Keep it in a plastic container to use later.

Linguine with Ricotta
Mary Ann makes a linguine dish using this ricotta. You can make fettucini or linguine with the ricotta mixed with a half cup heavy cream, once the pasta is cooked, stir in the ricotta and cream, top with grated parmesan cheese. This dish is very light and tasty.

Fettucini with Spinach and Ricotta.

I used some cooked spinach, and fettucini instead of linguine.
Fill a pot with water, bring to the boil and put the fettucini in until tender, strain the fettucini reserving a little water. Add a tablespoon butter to the fettucini.
Take 1 teasp. cornstarch the water from the fettucini, mix together and stir into the spinach. Add the juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 cup wine and mix into the spinach. Stir  the ricotta  mixed with half a cup of heavy cream into the fettucine and add the spinach. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. You can also add mushrooms.