Just a simple Cucumber and Ricotta Sandwich that is great for a picnic or dinner on the porch with a glass of white wine on a super hot day, like the heat wave that Portland just went through.

I make my own ricotta because once I learned how to during a HipCooks Portland class several years back, I haven’t been able to go back. Plastic from the store leaches into the flavor of the mass market Ricotta. You can avoid this for the cost of a a little whole milk, heavy cream and a lemon juice or vinegar (which you probably already have at home anyway). Or instead of the cream and lemon juice/vinegar as your acid ,just use buttermilk instead like when I made ricotta for Pasta Shells with squash and zucchini. Either way it yields a better value if I make it myself than buy it from the store, on top of the superior flavor quality. It really is just those 3 (or 2!) ingredients!

You can never have too much ricotta, which is why I always go for the gallon or half gallon of milk plus pint of heavy cream amounts. If you need more ideas of how to use ricotta besides the obvious smearing it on bread, putting it in pastas, in desserts… check out this Huffington Post roundup of some beautiful Ricotta Recipe Ideas.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 gallon of whole milk (aka 2 quarts)
• 1 pint of heavy cream (aka 2 cups)
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or another acid like lemon juice also works)

Directions:

1. In a large pot, add the milk and cream and slowly heat it, stirring to make sure you don’t burn the milk at the bottom, until you start to see lots of little bubbles around the corner but it hasn’t reached a full rolling boil. If you have a thermometer, you are shooting for around 180 degrees F. Make sure you keep stirring so you don’t scorch any milk at the bottom of the pot.
   
2. Once you reach that heat level, turn off the heat and remove the pot of milks from the stove. Add in the vinegar and stir in. Now let it stand for a few minutes while the cheese curdles – you should see the whey (the yellowish part) start to separate from the clumps of ricotta, like below.
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3. Using a sieved spoon, I then spoon the ricotta into a sieve that has a cheesecloth folded in half over it. Let the cheese drain – the less time you give it, the softer and moister it will be, while draining it overnight makes it thicker. As you are spooning in the ricotta, if you’d like you can sprinkle in a little salt now and then for flavor. Depending on the size of the curds, I might use the strainer itself instead of a sieved spoon to get all the tiny curds. Here in this batch the curds were chunkier but it’s OK if the curds are smaller,  it all comes together as it drains don’t worry.
   
4. Let the whey drain further – depending on how soft or firm you want the ricotta. I think it’s best within the first 24 hours, when it’s still really soft and drained for a few hours. As you drain it further such as overnight or place it in the refrigerator, it will get firmer. The ricotta should keep refrigerated for 4 to 5 days, though mine never lasts than 3 days at most and I think it’s best in those first few days unless you are making a pasta dish/cooking with it as it isn’t as fresh tasting as the first days.
   

I use it on bread and top it with fruit and veggies as an open sandwich, or on grilled bread with just a drizzle of nice olive oil and balsamic vinegar if I’m fancy. It could be simply in a bowl with fruit, part of breakfast in pancakes or an accompaniment with eggs, or just the start of a big dinner such as stuffed pasta shells (like a Fresh Ricotta, butternut squash, baby zucchini in Pasta Shells recipe I shared in the past), lasagna, and so much more! In fact, next week, I will share one of the other things I made with this ricotta, a Radish, Edamame, Ricotta and Greens Sandwich.

In the summer, especially during a heat wave when it’s almost 100 degrees and I’m super hot and tired and lazy or combination of all of those, and I want a refreshing sandwich, I just cut up cucumbers and put it in a sandwich with ricotta – maybe even an additional smear of avocado.

On a Stadium Roll (my latest favorite bread from Franz Bakery) with microgreens or whatever greens I have.
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Or, no bread at all and just cucumber and ricotta with a few grinds of freshly ground pepper.

I definitely enjoyed ricotta sandwiches as meals during the Portland heat wave. Have you ever made homemade ricotta? Do you use ricotta in sandwiches? What’s your favorite food during a heat wave?