Mauricio Leventer Estimated reading time: 5 minutes


About this cheese

Just milk, vinegar, lemon, and salt. These are the only ingredients you need to make Ricotta Salata cheese at home using simple utensils. In about one hour the cheese is ready to dry, in one or two more hours it's ready to eat! This is one of the simplest recipes anyone can make. It's healthy, delicious, no preservatives, no hidden components, and full of proteins.


Image credit: Ajale (Unsplash)

Ingredients
  • 1 gallon (3.78 liters) of Kosher certified Whole Milk (Cholov Yisroel)
  • ¾ cup of Kosher certified White Vinegar
  • ¼ cup of natural Lemon Juice
  • 1 ½ Tsp of Kosher certified Sea Salt

Utensils (stainless steel is the best for cheese making)
  • 6.5QT (or larger) Pot
  • Slotted spoon
  • Soup spoon
  • Pasta strainer
  • Cheesecloth (I use a 100% cotton white pillow cover)
  • Food thermometer
  • 4-cup Glass round container with lid to store

Preparation. It takes ~1 hour to prepare it and 2-3 hours to drain by itself.
  • Heat the Milk in a 6.5QT pot slowly using medium-high heat until it reaches 190F. Stir it gently during the entire process. Use a thermometer to check the temperature oftentimes.
  • Turn off the heat and add the mixture of vinegar and lemon juice, always stirring very gently.
  • Remove the pot from the stove top burner and let it cool down over the sink top naturally for at least 45 minutes.
  • Remove the solid part of the cheese from the pot using the slotted spoon and put it gently into the cheesecloth inside the strainer in order to drain the liquid.
  • Add 1 tsp of sea salt to the cheese while it is in the cheesecloth mixing it very well with the spoon.
  • After adding the salt, hang the cheesecloth over the sink and let it drain.
  • It takes from 2 to 3 hours to drain and to completely cool it down at room temperature.
  • Remove the cheese from the cheesecloth and put it in a glass container.
  • It's ready to eat! Store it in the refrigerator.

Fun facts about making this cheese

  • The leftover liquid is also edible and very rich in proteins. You can use it to make other types of cheeses, such as spreadable cheeses, prepare a delicious pasta sauce, or even smoothies.
  • The more you drain the liquid, the harder and drier the cheese will become. If you drain for one hour, it will become very soft so you can spread it. Draining for two-three hours make it ideal.
  • The suggested amount of salt is the minimum to preserve the cheese for about one week in the refrigerator.
  • If you don't have lemon juice, just use 1 cup of vinegar. It will work as well with minimum differences in taste.

What makes this cheese Kosher

  • All ingredients used are Kosher certified.
  • The utensils used are Kosher. They were purchased new, then toiveled (immersed in a ritual bath before use). Used exclusively with dairy products.
  • Cheese making requires a high level of care and cleanliness because of contamination. The utensils must be well cleaned. And they are washed only with a dairy-designated sponge and never touches any Fleishig or non-Kosher foods.
  • Use Cholov Yisroel milk only! If not available, use Kosher certified milk.
  • This cheese is Kosher mainly because the ingredients are Kosher, the utensils are Kosher, and the making process does not change the Kosher status of the ingredients.

After many failures, I perfected this recipe during the COVID-19 Pandemic in February-March 2020 when I was confined home for several weeks and had a lot of milk left-over. Anyhow, it tastes good and is a great source of protein - 100g of this cheese may contain 18-26g of protein.