The name is not very appetizing because store bought ricotta is awful, or inedible to say the least. What I make is called “tvorog” in Russian (stress on 2nd syllable) and it’s not quite ricotta consistency, it’s much crumblier than ricotta, the texture is something between ricotta and cottage cheese. I started to make it regularly to use up milk that would spoil otherwise, because we could never finish even half a gallon. Throwing food away is not an option for me, I think it’s immoral. So it’s a win-win – you use up your milk and yogurt leftovers and get yourself purely homemade natural creamy cheese with no stabilizers or additives. I can eat it with a spoon as is or with some honey because I like its simple clean taste. The applications you can use it in are endless – sweet, savory, from mini cheese cakes to full size cheese cake, add to your frittata, whip it with cream and add some berries for a dessert, it can be a filling for crepes, stuffing for lazagna and dumplings. Because it’s plain and creamy – it can be a foundation for an appetizer, mixes great with dill and cilantro. For dessert – pairs with any berries and peaches.
So next time instead of pouring your milk leftovers into a sink – take a big non reactive pot and pour it there, add some yogurt to it to start fermentation. There is really great video by Helen Rennie . She uses instant pot to make it under exact temperature or suggests to put a regular pot into oven. Also for fermenting agent she recommends kefir (it can be found in any supermarket). I am not such purist and can assure you that tvorog can be done much easier, in a regular pot, no instant pot needed and any yogurt as fermenting agent works perfectly. If you let your milk and yogurt mixture sit in a room temperature overnight you might see the milk solids separate from whey and you will need to heat it just a little bit to finish the process. But you can even shorten it by putting your mixture on a minimal heat right away and watch the process to not let your milk boil. If you see the milk is about to simmer and solids don’t separate – add 1-2 tbsp of vinegar, better apple cider vinegar and stir the mixture slowly. You will see the curdle happens.
The proportions can vary, but milk should be whole, skim milk won’t work. Half gallon milk with half a cup of yogurt make about one pound of creamy cheese. Keep it in the fridge for a week – 10 days.
Ingredients:
- Whole milk 1/2 gallon
- Plain Yogurt/kefir 1/2 cup – 2 cups
- Vinegar 2 tbsp
Directions:
- Pour milk into non reactive pan
- Add yogurt or any fermented milk product
- Put on a very low heat and heat till it almost boils
- Add splash of vinegar and start stirring slowly till solids separate from whey
- Let it cool till room temperature
- Pour the mixture over fine sifter covered with cheese cloth
- Wait till all whey drips out, you may squeeze your cheese a little bit in the cheese cloth before you put it in the container.
