I don't use a lot of ricotta but always wish I could make more raviolis and stuffed shells and such. The main reason I don't? Have you looked at the price of ricotta lately? At our cheapest grocery store, the small container is $5! I can buy meat for that, as in pork chops or a London broil or even a whole chicken, so they usually win out.

I've seen more than one recipe to make homemade ricotta but just haven't had the time or the gumption to try them until now. On tonight's menu is homemade portabella mushroom ravioli and I decided it was time to tackle homemade ricotta. Who knew it was this simple?

I used this recipe from Mark Bittman and gave it a tweak based on the comments and having also recently seen his recipe for it in his book, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. In his book, he uses buttermilk, in the recipe, he used lemon juice. I used a combination of buttermilk and a small squeeze of lime juice. I also made half the recipe, since it was my first time making it. Here's my version, and it's for the smaller amount. Feel free to double. Enjoy!

Homemade Ricotta

4 c. whole milk (NOT ultra pasteurized)
1 c. buttermilk (equals 1 c. milk plus 1 T. vinegar, stir & sit for 5 minutes)
Squeeze of lime juice

Heat 4 c. milk over medium heat until simmering. Stir in the buttermilk and add a squeeze of lime juice. Reduce heat to medium-low and let cook for about 3 minutes, until you see curds when you stir it. Skim off the curds into a colander lined with a few layers of cheesecloth, and drain for about 15 minutes.