Waste not, want not, is a common expression in the English language. Not just because it sounds good, but also because it contains a very practical truth.

Those of us living in (or at least brought up in!) the western world are prone to not adhering to this adage. It’s much easier to just throw out old or excess items, rather than going to the bother of finding alternative uses. However, this is not a wise approach to life as who knows how long the resources we have will last and indeed if we all made better use of what we’ve got, we would have more to share with others.

Many people in today’s world don’t have the luxury of being wasteful and for sure many living in days gone by when food preservation methods weren’t so high-tech, also had to find ways of making the most of what they had.

Ironically, this need for being efficient with available resources gave rise to many of the food products that we enjoy today. For example, cheese was born out of the need to preserve milk.

There are a vast number of different cheeses in existence, each with a story to tell about how it came into being. Ricotta is one such cheese, the origin of which very much being to do with the need to make the most of any available milk.

The Name Says It All

The name Ricotta in Italian literally means ‘recooked’. This reflects the fact that Ricotta cheese is traditionally made by heating the liquid left over from making other cheeses, in order to extract remaining proteins from the solution. These can then be used to further produce cheese.

As it happens, this left-over liquid is called, ‘Whey’ (as in Miss Muffett fame) and so Ricotta is known as a whey cheese because it is made from this liquid.

In some respects, whey could be considered a by-product of cheesemaking, but at some point, in history, people realized that by carrying out this re-heating process, more cheese could be made thus making the most, of what otherwise could have gone to waste.

The Process Itself

The actual method for producing cheese from whey is fairly simple. As already mentioned, in the process of making cheese, a by-product liquid called whey is formed. Whey is basically the liquid part of milk, but it still contains proteins.

Originally, whey left-over from the production of Mozzarella was used to make Ricotta, but in fact, any sweet whey can be used.

The whey is heated, and salt is added. Cream or milk can be also be added to increase yield. Whey itself has a very low concentration of proteins so without the addition of other sources of protein, a lot of whey is needed to produce even a small amount of cheese.

Finally, adding acid to this heated whey causes the proteins in it to solidify taking with them any other proteins that have been added to the solution. These coagulated proteins trap air and so float to the surface of the liquid. From here they can easily be siphoned off, cooled and packaged and hey presto, your Ricotta cheese is ready for sale and consumption!

Uses

Obviously, once the hard work of obtaining Ricotta cheese has been done, the big question is what can it be used for?

The cheese itself is light in color and texture with a mild, slightly sweet taste. It is not dissimilar to Cottage cheese, although there are slight differences in the production method. Ricotta’s shelf life is not long (about three weeks if properly packaged and stored at 4 degrees Celsius or less) so it is not so much eaten on its own, but rather used as to complement other ingredients in a range of dishes and products.

It can be sweetened and used in desserts such as cannoli and cheesecake.

It can be added to pasta dishes to provide flavor and texture and also a light contrast to dark pasta sauces. It is often combined with spinach in pasta or on pizzas.

Ricotta is a good compliment for eggs, so it is often used in egg dishes such as omelets, souffles and even scrambled eggs.

Ricotta cheese’s two main culinary weapons are however its moistness and resistance to melting.

The moistness of Ricotta is due to the fact that it is a fresh cheese, eaten shortly after production so retains some of the liquid whey. Also, the whey proteins that it contains have a high water holding capacity. Thus, Ricotta can be included in breads, muffins, and pancakes, which would otherwise be dry and hard to eat.

Ricotta is also resistant to melting, again due to the properties of the whey proteins that it contains. This means that it can be used in recipes for soups and sauces to add viscosity.

Types

There are three main types of Ricotta cheese.

Whole milk Ricotta, which funnily enough is made from full-fat milk.

Part-skim Ricotta, which is made from reduced-fat milk.

Thirdly, there is Ricotta from whey or skimmed milk (or a combination of the two). This is the more traditional form of Ricotta and so the reason why it is known as a whey cheese. This type of Ricotta is often referred to as Ricottone.

There are slight differences between the three in terms of sweetness and creaminess. The first two generally being a bit sweeter and creamier than Ricottone.

Whilst Ricotta is usually used in its fresh state, it can nevertheless be aged and processed by salting, smoking, and baking to produce some longer lasting variations on the basic Ricotta theme.

Click here for Five Types of Ricotta Cheese to Try!

Ricotta All the Way!

We have seen then that Ricotta is a relatively simple cheese to make, which has many different applications. It is in a very real sense a way of making the most of milk!

What are your experiences with Ricotta? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Sources and Further Reading:

Canadian Dairy Commission ‘Ricotta Cheese’ 

Cheese: Chemistry, Physics, and Microbiology: Major Cheese Groups p. 345/346 

University of Guelph, Cheesemaking Technology e-book

Wikipedia, Ricotta