I've heard it said that cheese is milk's attempt at perfection. Frankly, I think cheese does a pretty fabulous job at perfecting milk... Not that milk is totally imperfect (a tall glass of whole milk is amazing, yes? Especially when paired with one of these bad boys.), but the right kind of cheese easily spells out perfection to me.
That said, the ricotta cheese at the grocery store doesn't do a very good job at trying to be perfect milk. Store-bought, generic ricotta simply holds nothing to the homemade stuff. It is f-a-r from perfect. Sure, the store-bought stuff works in a pinch or if it's not the star of the recipe, but if you haven't ever tasted homemade ricotta, you haven't tasted perfect ricotta. This stuff is so rich and creamy you'll probably think you're dreaming.
Please taste it. It will change your life... Or at least your understanding of perfect milk.
Notes: This makes a whole lot of ricotta. I haven't tried freezing it, but I have heard it might work... You could easily half the recipe, but you'll probably be like me and love the stuff so much that you'll find every excuse to use it. For example: Smeared on toast with a drizzle of honey and a pinch of salt, as a sandwich spread, dolloped on a plate of pasta, or made into gnocchi (one of my absolute favorites!).
Adapted from a few sources and my head :)
