House-made ricotta
- Antipasto
- 6-8
- 40 minutes plus cooling
Making your own ricotta is a great introduction to cheesemaking. At Manteca, Chris Leach whips his ricotta until smooth before serving with extra virgin olive oil, chilli flakes and fennel pollen. Using the best quality unhomogenised milk and extra virgin olive oil is key.
Chris says: ‘At Manteca, we use the leftover whey from the ricotta-making process in lots of other dishes on the menu, such as in meatballs, to soak focaccia and to make the whey caramel in our Chocolate and hazelnut tart. The bar also occasionally uses it to make ‘wheymonade’.’
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
- 2l whole milk, unhomogenised (Chris uses Estate Dairy)
- 315g of double cream
- 5g of flaky sea salt
- 115g of lemon juice, (from approx. 3 lemons)
- 1 pinch of chilli flakes
- 1 pinch of fennel pollen
- extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Equipment
- Temperature probe
Method
Combine the milk, cream and salt in a heavy-based saucepan and heat until it reaches 95°C, stirring occasionally to prevent it catching on the bottom of the pan
- 2l whole milk, unhomogenised (Chris uses Estate Dairy)
- 315g of double cream
- 5g of flaky sea salt
Once at 95 °C, add the lemon juice and stir gently to incorporate. Heat to 95–97 °C (just under boiling) then turn off the heat. Allow it to stand for 10 minutes while curds form
- 115g of lemon juice, (from approx. 3 lemons)
Spoon the curds into a fine sieve (or a ricotta mould if you have one) set over a container to catch the whey. Leave to drain and cool completely
Once fully cooled, adjust the consistency of the ricotta with the collected whey, if needed, to create a light consistency. Adjust the seasoning with salt, to taste, if needed. Retain the leftover whey for other dishes
Whip the ricotta in a food processor until very smooth then place into a piping bag and cut the tip at a very sharp angle
To serve, pipe onto a plate and finish with a sprinkle of salt and black pepper, the dried chilli, fennel pollen and a generous drizzle of olive oil. At Manteca, the ricotta is served with rosemary focaccia and a selection of antipasti. Any leftover ricotta can be used to make a pasta filling
- 1 pinch of chilli flakes
- 1 pinch of fennel pollen
- extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
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