Homemade Ricotta

2 cups whole milk

1 cup cream
(or 2 cups half and half and 1 cup whole milk)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Pour the milk, cream, and salt into a 4-cup glass liquid measuring cup.  Microwave until it comes to a full boil--it will get all foamy on top.  Mine took 7 1/2 minutes to come to a full boil, stopping occasionally to stir.  (Warning!  If you just set the timer for 7 minutes you might end up with an explosion in your microwave!  And it's no fun to clean up, so stop occasionally to stir--and maybe cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a paper towel or something.)  Then stir in the lemon juice and let it sit for 1 minute while the curds and whey separate  (If the curdling seems weak, try adding some more lemon juice.).  Place a strainer over a large bowl and line with paper towels.  Gently transfer curds to strainer and let drain for twenty-five minutes.

And you have 1 cup of ricotta cheese!  Now, what to do with it?  If you doubled the recipe, you could try Lasagna Florentine. Or you could try Roasted Figs with Fresh Ricotta.  After looking around at what I had on hand, I added about a Tablespoon of honey, a Tablespoon of lemon juice, and a teaspoon of lemon zest.  Gave it a good stir and scooped some into a bowl.  Then topped that with some berries and a drizzle of warm honey.  Delish!  

Try making  Lemon-Pepper Ricotta Spread and combining that with this Zucchini Tomato Dish.