I Made Cheese…From Scratch!

Eek! I have always wanted to make my own cheese, but the process is so scientific or something that I get intimidated. Well, this last weekend I thought I would give it a try seeing as how I had a little bit of time on my hands.

I knew I wanted to make some slow cooked Ragu/spaghetti sauce/Bolognese (whatever you want to call it), so I thought what better than a little dollop of ricotta cheese to go on the top? I started searching for recipes and sure enough, I found several. More or less, you take whole milk, heat it slowly, add in some sort of acid, then let it curdle. Seemed easy enough.

I used this for my base recipe and modified just a bit to get this recipe (scroll clear to the bottom if you clicked the link):

• ½ gallon whole milk
• 5-6 tablespoons fresh squeezed (or squoze) lemon juice
• 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt

Add your milk and salt to a large pot with a thermometer attached to the inside. Turn the heat to medium and begin heating up. Stir frequently to prevent scorching. When your milk mixture has reached 190 degrees, remove from the heat and add in your lemon juice. Stir to combine for about one minute.  Let sit undisturbed for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, line a strainer with cheesecloth and place over a large bowl. Once your cheese mixture is done sitting, begin adding your curds to the cheesecloth-lined strainer using a perforated skimmer.

Let the curds drain for ten minutes, then transfer to an airtight container and place in the fridge. You can just throw away the juice or whey that drained. I guess if you really wanted to, you could make a protein shake or something :)

I am so proud of myself for making cheese. I know this is super easy, but it is a start. Maybe I will try mozzarella next! Here are a few pictures:

Like I said earlier, I served this on top of my homemade sauce. It was all just so good. I’ll get to the sauce in a minute, but before I do, let’s just focus on how cool it is that I made my own cheese….yep, I made cheese from scratch :) Oh wait, did you hear? I made homemade cheese!

Ok, ok…on to the sauce. 

 

This is the part where I tell you that if you use sauce in a jar or a can…well…you just shouldn’t. Spaghetti sauce is so easy to make. Granted it takes time, but it is so worth it in the end. Here is what I have come up with over the years.

Ragu/spaghetti sauce/Bolognese

• 1 pound ground beef
• ½ pound ground pork
• ½ pound hot Italian sausage
• 1 large onion finely diced
• 2 large carrots finely diced - almost minced
• 2-3 large celery stalks finely diced - again, almost minced
• 4-5 cloves of garlic minced
• 2-3 tablespoons Italian seasoning (you can use fresh herbs - basil, thyme, oregano - which I highly recommend)
• 1 large can of tomato sauce
• 1 large can of San Marzano tomatoes - or any whole, peeled tomatoes
• ½ cup of sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive Oil
• 1 pound of pasta - I used parpadelle and it was GOOD!

Coat the bottom of a large Dutch oven with olive oil. Brown the beef, pork, and sausage. Add in the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and herbs. Let sauté for a few minutes.

In the meantime, place your san marzano tomatoes in the blender. Pulse until they are just broken up a bit (not such huge chunks). Dump in the tomato sauce and your blended tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Turn the heat down and let simmer. After the mixture has cooked for about an hour, add in your sugar - this really helps to cut through the acid. Let simmer for an additional 2 to 3 hours at least. The longer it simmers the better.

Serve over pasta and top with a dollop of HOMEMADE ricotta cheese. Did you hear that, HOMEMADE ricotta cheese!

Have a great week peeps…oh and Happy Valentine’s day!