Almond Ricotta
24 hrs or 120 mins
Serves 1x400g cheese
This delicate ricotta has a lovely taste and texture. The almonds benefit from a long soak which make the skins easy to remove, or just leave the skins on, it doesn’t affect the finished cheese, it’s purely aesthetic. It is essential to heat and stir slowly and gently, 90°C is just below boiling point, don’t try and rush it. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can tell it’s coming to the boil by bubbles forming at the sides of the pot. Don’t jump the gun however, give them a gentle stir and if they form immediately again then you are good to go. The little ricotta baskets are quite hard to come by, but you can make your own by drilling holes in a container or utilising a basket out of a bought mozzarella or a small salad spinner inner basket.
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Ingredients
- 2 cups almonds, soaked for 24 hours with cold water or 2 hours with hot water
- 4 cups water
- A pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 pieces of lemon peel
Directions
- Gather your ingredients and soak the almonds by covering completely with water. Drain the water off and remove the skins.
- Blend almonds with the fresh water and salt.
- Pop a sieve over a pot with a nut bag or very fine muslin and pour the mix through. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can and set the pulp aside.
- Heat the milk very gently on a low heat, stir very gently at three-minute intervals until it reaches 90°C – approximately 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the vinegar and lemon peel, stir gently and leave to cool, undisturbed.
- Remove peels and pour through sterilised muslin. Leave to drain for an hour and a half.
- Transfer into a mould then drain overnight in the fridge. Gently tip out of the mould and enjoy.
- Store in the fridge in a lidded container.
